Tea & Tea
by it's always something
Summary: Midoriya has a story to tell, and Yaoyorozu, Kendo, Tetsutetsu, and Kirishima won't let her leave until she's told them everything.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: So, Midoriya - Give us the Tea

"So, Midoriya - give us the tea."

Midoriya, ever the small, mousy teen that she was, found it impossible to resist Yaoyorozu's plea for gossip. The two of them were sitting adjacent to one another in a rather small booth at a modest cafe down the street from U.A. Across from them, Kirishima, Tetsutetsu, and Kendo had crammed into the booth so as to hear Midoriya's story. Tetsutetsu was between Kendo, who was sandwiched into the inner corner of the booth, and Kirishima, who could only manage to fit halfway into the seat. In front of each student was a small cup of tea.

"Well, as you might know, Kacchan and I got into a bit of a fight about a week ago, the day of the license exams," Midoriya began, running her pointer finger around the rim of her cup. They had just sat down, and her green tea was still too hot to drink.

"Yeah, we heard about that," Tetsutetsu verified. He threw back a scalding shot of his Earl Grey. "Why did it happen?"

Midoriya smiled a little nervously. "It's a long story," she remarked, running a hand through her shoulder-length, broccoli-green hair.

"Midoriya, it is 10 am on a Sunday morning," Kendo said. Even though she was wedged into the booth uncomfortably, she had retained her posture surprisingly well up until this point. However, as the boys beside her settled, she leaned forward and placed her elbows on the table. With one hand, she picked up the steaming cup of Jasmine tea in front of her, and she supported her jaw with the other. "We have time."

Yaoyorozu nodded in agreement. "Besides, Kirishima says that fighting wasn't the only thing that happened that night." Her usually proper exterior gave way to mischievous intrigue. The white tea she cupped in her hands seemed a bit pretentious, but her curious grin was a dead giveaway to her intentions.

A blush rose in Kirishima's cheeks. "I swear - I didn't tell them anything! But Bakugou tells me a lot of stuff, you know, and he said something about… well, um, stuff that might have happened." He looked down in shame at his hot cup of Puer tea, which Midoriya thought was a surprisingly nuanced choice for the straightforward boy. "It's not really manly of me to spread rumors, I know."

"Shut up! It's manly as hell!" Tetsutetsu said with a bang of his fist on the table. "Talking about all the shit that goes on at this school is the only way to understand it all."

"Stop it, you're going to break the table again," Kirishima replied, punching Tetsutetsu with enough force to shove Kendo even further into the corner of the booth. She was balancing her tea with seemingly infinite dexterity, and the roughhousing didn't even seem to bother her as she kept her gaze firmly on Midoriya.

"I'm not surprised Kacchan told you, Kirishima. And I personally don't mind that you told anyone. Honestly, I'm not even sure Kacchan cares if we keep it a secret." Midoriya smiled a little as Tetsutetsu and Kirishima immediately returned their attention to her. Yaoyorozu and Kendo were already intently listening, and the booth fell into a kind of expectant silence as customers and coffeemakers whirred in the background.

Midoriya sighed. She wouldn't tell them everything, of course. She couldn't tell them about One for All and the reasons for All Might's decline - and she absolutely couldn't tell them the other thing.

But still, she had come with them to their little session of "tea and tea," as Tetsutetsu had called it. There was plenty to this story that she could tell them. "I guess I should start at the beginning, right?"


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Hello there! Thanks for stopping by! There are a couple things I want to say:

1) I hope to get this entire story up and completed by the end of the month, with one (relatively short) chapter every day. It might get complicated, I might not keep this rigorous upload schedule, and I apologize in advance. However, I have every intention of finishing this story, even if it takes longer than just the month of November.

2) I don't own any of the characters, story, or content. I've obviously changed some things (like, hey, Midoriya's a girl), but MHA is not my intellectual property. IDK, seems like something I should say.

3) My summary was really bad - the first chapter is about spilling the tea, but everything else is going to be a flashback. Well, I'll tie it in at the end, but you know. This story is less about the gossiping and more about the actual story, as I have altered it.

4) You're awesome! Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day.

* * *

Chapter 2: The Entrance Exam

Uraraka's vision was a little blurry - she was pretty sure a piece of rubble had hit her square on the back of the head when that massive robot had emerged from the ground. There was a dull ache that slowly grew into sharp pain in her leg, and she looked down to see a large piece of uprooted concrete had pinned her calf to the ground.

"Ow," she whimpered, pushing herself up off the pavement. A pair of strong arms supported her, and she whipped her head around to see that nice girl who she had spoken with on the way in. She had introduced herself as Midoriya - but she had told Uraraka to call her Deku.

"Hey, looks like you got hit pretty hard," Deku said, smiling down at Uraraka with feigned optimism. Uraraka appreciated the girl's attempt to put her at ease, but spinning around so quickly had only made Uraraka more lightheaded. Stars faded from the edges of her vision as Deku continued. "Can you use your quirk to lift the rubble from your leg?"

Uraraka nodded, which was a mistake - she had to steady herself before she could do anything else. With one hand on her head, she reached towards her legs and lifted the rubble pinning her down. As soon as she was free, Deku took a quick look at her injured leg. She then scooped Uraraka in her arms and started jogging to a safe distance from the robot. They managed to disappear into a sufficiently distant alleyway, though the robot was following them in its slow, lumbering manner. "Uraraka, I need you to help me, ok? I don't want that robot to hurt anyone else - I know it doesn't give any points, but I think I can take it down."

"How?" Deku had rested Uraraka on the ground by this point, and she was tending to the wounds Uraraka had received.

As Deku put a little pressure on the back of Uraraka's head, she winced, but soon relaxed into the somewhat comforting feeling. Deku had torn off a part of her sleeve to keep the wound from losing too much blood.

"Your quirk can alter… it can make things float, right? All of these robots have a switch on them, and I think I can find the switch that will turn off this one, too." Deku took off her jacket entirely and tied it around Uraraka's bleeding leg. She pulled one of Uraraka's hands up and placed it on the makeshift bandage covering the back of her head.

"Yeah, my quirk can alter gravity. Your plan sounds pretty dangerous though, Deku."

Deku gave her the sweetest, kindest smile and replied, "Don't worry, about that, Uraraka! If you're not up for it, I understand, but there are still a few minutes left for you to get points and I don't want you - or anyone else - to lose points because of this giant villain. I know I won't have enough points to pass anyway."

Uraraka couldn't help but smile. "Well, then yes. I'll help you. It's a noble cause."

"Great! All I need is for you to get me up to its shoulder. Then, you can release me and go back to getting points for yourself." Deku looked around the corner of the building they hid behind. On her face was a look of resolve.

With a grunt of pain, Uraraka started to get up. "I'm not sure I'll be able to get any more points," she admitted as Deku turned to help her stand. Uraraka put all of her weight on her uninjured leg and kept applying pressure to her head as stars crept into the edges of her vision again. "But together, we can take this guy down." She gave Deku a shaky smile.

Deku grinned back. "Then let's do this, Uraraka."

The two emerged from their alley to find the robot terrorizing a few other applicants less than a block away. Deku picked Uraraka up and brought her closer to the action, though they stopped behind a bit of cover.

"Ready?" Uraraka asked.

Deku nodded shortly. She held out a hand and crouched so she could get a good jump once Uraraka applied her quirk.

Uraraka gave Deku a high five, and off she was like a rocket. Uraraka gazed after her in amazement. For someone without a quirk, Deku was really strong - and potentially brave to the point of stupidity.

Without the hindrance of gravity, Deku easily maneuvered around the giant robot's sluggish movements. It appeared as though it was trying to swat her out of the sky, but it's huge limbs didn't have enough agility to get her.

When Deku reached the robot's shoulders, Uraraka nearly released her before realizing that she had no way to get back down after this. Uraraka continued to focus her efforts on keeping Deku aloft, hoping she could handle the weightlessness.

Within about 20 seconds, Deku had managed to deactivate the robot. "Yay! Good job, Deku!" Uraraka shouted, pumping her free hand in the air as she watched Deku's tiny form push herself lightly towards the ground. Every now and again, she would grab the deactivated robot to guide her pathway so she continued to go down. When she came within a few feet of the ground, she grabbed the treads on the bottom most part of the robot to rotate herself into an upright position and gave Uraraka a thumbs up.

Uraraka put down the cloth covering her head for a moment so she could press the tips of her fingers together and release Deku, who sprinted over to Uraraka immediately.

"You were amazing!" Uraraka called as Deku approached.

She beamed back. "Your quirk is incredible, Uraraka! And thank you so much for not just dropping me at the top… it would have been really difficult to climb down from there."

Suddenly, the proctor of the test amplified his voice again. "Time's up, contestants!" he yelled, and Uraraka felt her heart sink a little at his words. She was pretty sure her 28 points wouldn't be enough to earn her a spot in the school of her dreams.

The two hugged. "Well, I wouldn't have wanted to leave you stranded up there. Who would I have left to fail with me?"

Deku ran a hand through her hair in an attempt to smooth down the flyaways. "Ah, true." She started laughing, just little giggles at first, but soon she was nearly doubled over. "Man, we probably just really screwed that up, huh?"

Her laughter was contagious, and soon Uraraka found herself giggling as well. "Yeah, I guess we did."

Deku helped Uraraka walk to the nurse's tent, keeping pressure on Uraraka's head wound. The two didn't have a whole lot to say, and exhaustion was setting in, but Deku's presence still put Uraraka at ease. "Do you like ice cream?" Deku asked after a moment.

"Yeah! Especially with mochi." Uraraka loved mochi.

The two approached the makeshift nurse's tent. "Excuse me? I think my friend could use some help. I think she might have a mild concussion, and her leg was injured."

Uraraka was a bit surprised at Deku's assessment, but a concussion would certainly explain how lightheaded she was. And honestly, the stars were beginning to fill her vision.

The little nurse whipped around to face the pair, and her eyebrows raised about seven inches when she saw Uraraka's state. "Lie her down on that cot over there, dear," the woman replied.

"Will do. Thank you very much!" Deku lifted Uraraka again and laid her down on the bed.

"What makes you think I have a concussion?" Uraraka said. She smiled sweetly, as though optimism would make her head stop spinning.

Deku gave a half-grin back, and Uraraka could tell she was trying not to look concerned. "You got hit pretty hard, Uraraka."

"Yeah, I guess I did." Uraraka could feel herself losing consciousness. "We did good today, Deku. We completed the entrance exam."

Deku's smile was the last thing Uraraka saw before she passed out.

* * *

When Uraraka awakened, her parents were peering over her with understandably concerned expressions.

"Ochako, sweetheart! Are you okay?" her mother asked.

"Yeah, I'm ok, mom! How long have I been asleep?" Uraraka felt as though she had never been injured at all. She propped herself up in the little cot and revealed her healed leg by pulling back her blanket.

"Only about an hour, Ochako," her father replied, verifying with a glance at his watch. "There was another very kind girl here who was waiting for you, but she had to leave."

Deku… Uraraka had planned to exchange numbers so they could hang out more, even though they probably wouldn't get in.

"You're free to go, honey," the nurse called over to her. She was tending to another patient, leaving a large kiss square on his shoulder. "If you have any additional pain, feel free to come back to the school and ask for me."

Uraraka nodded. "Thank you, miss." Surprisingly few cots were still full only an hour after such a dangerous test.

As she and her parents started to leave the campus, Uraraka slowed to a stop. Her adrenaline rush and Deku's laughter had put aside her fears about failing the exam. Besides, she really wanted to make it up to Deku for saving her.

"Mom, Dad, can I go back in for a second? I need to say thank you to the staff," Uraraka said, giving her parents a pleading look.

"Sure, sweetheart. Do you want us to come with you?"

"Oh, no - I'm ok! I'll only be a few minutes." With that, she took off back into the building, rubbing a tear from her face as she fully realized and accepted what she was about to do. This was the school of her dreams, and if she got in she could give her parents a life of ease - but Uraraka just felt her feet pound ever faster on the pavement. What did that matter, when Deku was willing to give everything to help others? Deku deserved to get in. Deku was a true hero.

She burst into the judges' lounge within a minute. "Excuse me, can I please talk to you?" she asked respectfully.

It was clear she had their attention, and she felt an immense amount of scrutiny from the silence and furrowed brows that confronted her.

"Um, my name is Uraraka Ochako, and, um, I wanted to ask that you give my points to De- to Midoriya. She gave this test everything she had, even though she doesn't have a quirk, and she actually got points of her own. I mean, she took down that massive robot, even though it gave her no points, because she didn't want it to hurt anyone else. I mean… isn't that what makes someone a real hero?"

She paused, taking a few deep breaths to compose herself.

"Thank you for talking to us, listener." It was the announcer with the long blonde hair, gelled up in a big spike. "Unfortunately, we can't transfer one person's points to another. You and your friend both did excellently today, and you should be proud of yourselves. You will hear back from us in a few weeks, once we've made our decisions."

Uraraka nodded quickly and bowed with respect. "Thank you for listening." The announcer saw her out and shut the door behind her.

Uraraka sniffed and shoved her hands in her pockets. She had a handkerchief or a tissue in there somewhere, right?

She pulled out what she thought was a tissue, only to find that it was a torn piece of scratch paper. On it was scrawled a number, as well as the message: " _We should get mochi or something. After all, us losers have to stick together. - Deku :)_ "

With a smile, Uraraka let out a little chuckle as tears escaped down her cheeks. "Yeah."


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Hello there! This chapter was arguably a little rushed - feel free to hold that against me. I had a lot I wanted to include today, but I wanted to keep it as short as I could. Have a nice day!

* * *

Chapter 3: She Should Have Gone Home

Iida wasn't entirely sure how Midoriya had gotten any points during the entrance exam, let alone 71 of them. She had obviously known - or at least assumed or deduced - that she would get points for helping to destroy the zero-point robot.

During Aizawa's tests, there was hardly any time to regroup between assessments. Iida paid close attention to Midoriya's scores, searching for any sign of superior intelligence, physicality, or dexterity. In every test, she managed to land in the top half of the class, but most students found ways to pull far ahead of the pack on one or two of the challenges. In Iida's case, he had managed to score incredibly well on the sprints, endurance run, and ball throw (given that he had drop-kicked the softball on the second attempt).

However, as the tests neared their end, it became increasingly clear to Iida that Midoriya was not the weakest person there. Even though he questioned her talent, Iida couldn't deny that she was tenacious. Besides, it was pretty apparent that she had trained to improve her strength and speed prior to her enrollment.

Iida could see Midoriya standing silently by Uraraka as the class gathered around Aizawa. Beside him was a large computer screen.

"I scored you based on the utility of your quirks, remember," Aizawa warned as results flashed up on the screen. Iida started at the top and read down the list for his name. First was Yaoyorozu, then Todoroki, Bakugou… Iida felt some unexpected tension evaporate and his shoulders relax as he spied his name in fourth place.

After a few seconds, Aizawa spoke again - none of the students had a chance to fully process their scores yet. "Midoriya, let's speak over here." He motioned to a suitable distance away, and the two quickly split so they could speak in relative privacy.

Iida's eyes quickly worked up from the bottom of the list. Mineta at 20th place, Hagakure at 19th, Jiro in 18th, Kaminari 17th, and Midoriya 16th. That was… incredibly impressive, as she had no quirk to assess in the first place.

With a quick glance at Mineta, however, Iida could tell he was panicked. The small boy was dangerously close to tears, and Sero gave him a consolatory pat on the shoulder. Mineta sniffed quietly. Iida saw that his knees were beginning to shake.

"Well, class, you've all seen the board," Aizawa said, bored, monotone drawl in full effect. Midoriya returned to her place beside Uraraka, who gave her a small smile and a squeeze on the arm. "Mineta, go back to the classroom and gather your things. You do not need to return to class after lunch."

Immediately, the small boy burst into tears. "That's not fair!" he cried, but Aizawa's ruthless smile was enough to tell the entire class that he really didn't care.

* * *

The class had waited for Mineta to disappear back into the locker rooms before following him. Aizawa had instructed them not to be late for afternoon class, and even Bakugou wouldn't have dared rebel.

Iida was one of the quickest students to get changed and return to the classroom, so he took some time to reorganize his desk. Before long, Yaoyorozu entered the room as well.

"Congratulations on your performance," Iida said, nodding curtly in Yaoyorozu's direction.

She smiled happily. "Thank you very much! You did quite well yourself!" She paused, looking to Iida as though she wanted to say something, but she couldn't find the words. "You're… Iida, like, from the hero family, right? Your father is Ingenium."

Iida's eyes widened in a bit of genuine surprise - he wouldn't have expected another student to recognize him or his name immediately. "Well, Ingenium is currently my brother's hero name, though he did inherit the mantel from our father."

Yaoyorozu blushed. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't realize he was so young! My parents are very impressed with his work, and I had assumed he had been working much longer. They usually wouldn't invest in someone very young."

"Ah - Yaoyorozu! I recognize the name now! You've sponsored my brother and my father for several years, now. I can see why you're confused - my brother took over as Ingenium after your parents started making donations. We appreciate their continued support, though." Iida bowed his head lowly so as to properly thank Yaoyorozu.

"That makes a lot of sense," Yaoyorozu replied. "Anyway, I'm about to go to the dining hall, but I'll talk to you later, ok?"

Iida nodded. "It was nice to meet you."

"It was a pleasure." With a final smile, she left the room.

Iida straightened one more pencil and triple checked that all his supplies were in order before he followed Yaoyorozu out the door.

After about thirty seconds, it became clear to Iida that two students had fallen into step behind him, though they were conversing with one another and paying him no heed. "Aw, Deku, you did really well." It was Uraraka's sweet, bubbly voice. It took him a moment to remember that Bakugou had referred to Midoriya as Deku earlier that morning.

"I mean, I can't help but think that I don't belong here. I want to be a hero more than anything, but I feel responsible for Mineta being sent home. He deserved to be here." Sure enough, it was Midoriya's shaking voice.

"You deserve to be here, Deku!" Uraraka replied, her smile apparent in her words. "Trust me, you have worked just as hard as the rest of us to get here - if not harder."

Iida pursed his lips. He'd been training for years to hone his skills and perfect his technique, which is something he doubted Midoriya had done. However, as he walked in front of the pair on the way to the dining hall, he found that Uraraka's argument made some sense. It was not a surprise that Iida could get here with such a powerful quirk and personal trainers ready to support him. His family had money and he had personal, inherited power.

He had no trouble destroying robots, no trouble running a mile or two. He had no trouble finding the resources he needed to succeed.

Midoriya, this short and muscular girl, had needed to train herself. In all likelihood, she did not have those resources. She did not have inherent power that got her here - she had needed to train just to get to the baseline power and slightly-above-average physical prowess that Iida was born with.

That was what made Iida think she should have gone home - she'd have to work so much harder than everyone else, just to get to the same place. She would never be as fast as Iida, or as explosively powerful as Bakugou, or as versatile and useful as Yaoyorozu. Why put her through this taxing process if her body would never be as strong as those of her classmates? How was that fair?

"What did Aizawa sensei talk to you about, anyway?" Uraraka asked.

"Well, he said that since I don't have a quirk, he graded me based on my physical capabilities, rather than the ability of my quirk to handle the situation. Some of the other students had trouble applying their quirks to these challenges as well, so my physical training was enough for me to pull slightly ahead," Midoriya explained. "Even so, that training can only take me so far."

Iida shook his head. "It got you here, didn't it?" he asked, spinning around to face the two. "You can't give up now." Yes, Midoriya would need to work harder. But Uraraka was right. Midoriya had made it this far, and there was no other way around it. She deserved to be here.

Midoriya and Uraraka looked taken aback. "Thank you. You're Iida, right?" Midoriya asked.

In response, Iida simply nodded.

"I'm Midoriya, but you can call me Deku. And this is Uraraka."

Iida raised an eyebrow. "Why Deku? When Bakugou called you that this morning, it was pretty clear he intended it as an insult."

Midoriya ran a hand through her hair and scratched at the back of her neck. "It's a long story. For now, let's eat."


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Hi there! Hope you're all having a nice day!

I would like to sincerely thank anyone who's made it this far... I know it's only day 4/30, but it means a lot to me.

Right now, I'm trying very hard not to say self deprecating things about this chapter and how unnaturally short it is compared to the kinds of incredibly wordy things I tend to write. I wrote out a whole chapter on the actual fight between Midoriya+Uraraka/Bakugou+Iida, but then I realized that most of it is exactly the same as what happened in the manga and I did not want to waste anybody's time, so here we are - a short chapter that gets emotional real fast.

* * *

Chapter 4: It's Always About Me

"How did you defeat me?"

Bakugou faced away from Deku, but her hesitance was palpable.

"You're quirkless and… you're nothing to me. How did you defeat me?" His voice was low and dangerous, his shoulders hunched. "You only win by outsmarting me, or cheating - I don't know how you got into U.A. in the first place. It's like you could read my attacks even before I knew I would use them myself."

He waited for a response. There was something more to her success, beyond just her observations. In All Might's class, Bakugou had tried a new technique: a smokescreen attack that allowed him to get behind his opponent and blast them in the back. Somehow, _somehow,_ Deku had predicted his actions when he had tried to attack her. It was simply unbelievable to him - he had never pulled a stunt like this before, and yet Deku had pivoted to punch him square in the jaw after he had gotten around her.

"Things are changing. I… I have never used my quirk, Kacchan, but I know it's there." She chose her words carefully. She was on edge, and Bakugou could tell she was heavily filtering what came out of her mouth. "I will be a hero, just like you."

"Ha! This isn't about you, Deku! I'm better than you! You are nothing compared to me!" He wasn't sure what she meant, exactly. She had never used a quirk because she didn't have one.

"It's ALWAYS about me, Kacchan!" Bakugou furrowed his brow, a little taken aback. He hadn't heard the usually patient Deku raise her voice like this before.

He turned to face her, angry sneer across his face.

"Don't you see that? You scream at me, and you hate me, and you complain about me, and you want me to leave you alone - everything you do is about me, Kacchan!"

A strange feeling washed over Bakugou as he looked at Deku. She had her recovering legs planted firmly on the ground, and even with her arm in a sling she seemed so intimidating. It was unlike anything Bakugou had experienced before, as though angry and afraid. Almost as though his stomach dropped a few inches, and he found that tears were welling in his eyes as he looked back at his childhood acquaintance.

"I don't know why you're like this, Kacchan, but I didn't do anything to you." Deku finally took a deep breath. "I never asked you to hate me. I follow you because you are the image I have in my head of a hero. You are talented and successful… and I want to be like you. That's why I follow you around. But you know what? It's not worth it anymore. I… shouldn't want to be like you."

Deku turned to go back inside without another word, but Bakugou could see her shoulders shaking. She didn't mean that… she couldn't have meant it. Besides, it's not like he cared.

A tear rolled down his cheek, soon accompanied by silent sobs that coursed throughout his whole body as he ran for U.A.'s front gates. He didn't need her. He didn't need anybody.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Well, I Don't Miss Him

The first week of school was passing quite quickly, from Aizawa's quirk apprehension test to All Might's battle trial. Then, there had been that whole fiasco with the press breaking in and the election of class representatives.

The entire class had been surprised to see Midoriya, who was well known to be quirkless, had somehow managed to defeat Bakugou during All Might sensei's test. There was no question she was physically above average, but compared to Bakugou she shouldn't have stood a chance. It was because of that confrontation between the two, perhaps, that encouraged several students to vote for Midoriya when choosing a class president. However, she had declined the position, asking that Yaoyorozu and Iida become co-presidents instead.

Asui reflected carefully on the first few days of school as the class travelled across U.A.'s wide campus on a small shuttle bus. They were scheduled to receive a lesson from Aizawa, All Might, and Thirteen in the USJ, or the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, and Asui was fairly excited about it.

From what limited information Asui had recieved, she believed this would be a good place to finally apply herself. She had only really experienced full freedom to use her quirk during the entrance exam or at beaches, and only when she was a sufficient distance from shore. There was no way to tell how powerful she was on land - she didn't have the societal freedom to use her quirk outside of her house or other limited parameters.

"Midoriya, you know a lot about this school," Asui began, turning to the girl in question.

Midoriya had apparently been zoning out, because she jolted to attention at the sound of her name. "What is it, Asui?"

"Call me Tsuyu. My question is, what is the USJ like?" She looked at Midoriya with wide, curious eyes.

"U.A. is pretty private when it comes to talking about their procedures and buildings. There's not a whole lot that I know."

"Oh. Well, I suppose that's fair," Asui replied with a shrug of her shoulders. Without much of a pause, she changed the subject. "Anyway, I usually just say whatever's on my mind, and I've been thinking: Midoriya, how did you get into U.A. without a quirk?"

This gathered most of the class's attention. Jiro even unplugged her earphone jack from her phone in order to listen in.

"Well, there were power switches on the robots. And I got a lot of rescue points for taking on the zero-point robot, as well," Midoriya explained.

Uraraka nodded. "I was there."

"It's pretty cool that you figured that out," Kirishima said, leaning forward to enter the conversation. "I mean, my quirk is nice and all, but I wouldn't have even guessed that the robots had switches. Not having a quirk made you smarter and more observant than the rest of us."

"Don't sell yourself short like that, Kirishima," Midoriya replied. "It's nothing the rest of you couldn't have done. Besides, I do have a quirk. I just haven't used it yet."

Asui could see a few raised eyebrows as she looked throughout the bus, but it was pretty clear no one was about to contest Midoriya's claim.

The rest of the bus ride was consumed with conversations that meandered between topics, from individual quirks to costumes, and even touching on Bakugou's volatile personality before they finally parked in front of the giant building that housed the USJ.

The class filed out of the bus and into the massive space. Asui turned from side to side, trying to absorb all the information she could. There were a variety of different terrains that ringed the building, from a dense, windy city to a boat on the ocean to a landslide area. In the center of the room was a large, ornate fountain that somehow seemed to tie the diverse room together. Many of the students were darting around the entryway trying to get a good look, expressing their enthusiasm quite vocally.

"Gather around," Aizawa called to the class as they neared the center of the arena. He and Thirteen, who was clearly recognizable in full, astronaut-themed costume, had a quick conversation under their breath as the students gathered around them. Asui couldn't tell what they were talking about, other than the fact that it was clearly about All Might - his name was all that she could pick out of their conversation.

"Welcome to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, class 1-A!" Thirteen said happily. "Or the USJ, as we like to call it."

* * *

Asui wasn't sure how she had ended up in the waters of the flood zone only a second after standing at the entrance of the USJ, but she figured it was some kind of teleportation quirk. That purple mist was the most likely explanation for her sudden change in location.

She darted around, searching for others beneath the turbulent waves. It didn't take her long to find Midoriya getting chased down by a villain with a shark's head. Asui made quick work of him and secured Midoriya around the waste with her tongue before making for the surface.

Before long, the two were huddled together on the deck of the boat, peering over the side at about two dozen water-based villains.

"What's going on, Midoriya?" Asui asked. "How are we being attacked?"

Midoriya furrowed her brow. "I don't know how the villains got in, other than that they appear to have someone who can make them teleport."

"What do we do now?" Asui pulled herself away from the edge of the railing and perched on her hands and feet, much like an actual frog.

"Our first priority is to get out of here. Then, we'll deal with where to go next," Midoriya reasoned, falling back from the railing as well. "And… I have a plan that might just work."

As she explained her idea, Asui found herself growing rather nervous. There were a lot of villains down there, and Midoriya's plan was pretty ridiculous, all things considered. It required a quirk that Asui had never seen Midoriya use - the one Midoriya had claimed to have on the bus.

"Are you sure this will work, Midoriya?" Asui asked quietly as she prepared to follow through. First, Midoriya would jump off the boat and use her quirk, and then Asui would need to take a big leap to clear the commotion and snag Midoriya with her tongue. There was massive room for error, as far as Asui was concerned, but she didn't have a better plan to offer.

"I… no, I'm not sure. But it's the best thing I can come up with. Are you ready?" She looked at Asui and gave a shaky smile.

Almost against her better judgement, Asui nodded.

Midoriya leaped from the railing without any further ado, bracing her left wrist within her right hand. Asui prepared to leap herself as soon as Midoriya used her quirk.

Carefully, with wide eyes, Asui watched as Midoriya fell towards the water and flicked her finger. The resulting shock wave resounded throughout the entirety of the USJ as the water beneath Midoriya was blown completely out from under her.

The boat rocked violently away from Midoriya, causing Asui to nearly lose her footing. As soon as she had reasonable purchase on the boat again, she took her jump, tongue reaching for Midoriya as the water beneath them began to fill the giant hole Midoriya had created. The villains were sucked together, knocking into one another as the water collided with itself to form a huge column of displaced water.

The pair landed in the shallow edge of the flood zone with surprising grace.

"Well, I don't miss him," Midoriya said quietly as Asui set her down. Asui wasn't entirely sure what Midoriya meant, so she decided to address Midoriya's impressive quirk instead.

"Midoriya, that was amazing!" Asui praised.

Midoriya winced in pain. "Thanks, Asui."

"Call me-" Asui stopped when she saw Midoriya's middle finger, bruised and bent out of position. "Midoriya, what happened?"

"This is why I haven't used my quirk yet - it's really self-destructive." Midoriya cradled her injured hand to her chest as tears started to leak from the corners of her eyes. "Man, this really hurts."

Asui knew very little about medicine, and so she could do very little to ease Midoriya's pain. The best she could do was get Midoriya to someone else. "We should try to get back to the entrance. Hopefully, Aizawa sensei and Thirteen sensei will still be there."

Midoriya nodded. "That sounds like a good idea."

The two waded through the waist-high water until they made it to the center of the building. It was clear that combat was still ongoing in several different parts of the arena, and Asui could see a large group of figures fighting at the raised center.

"That must be Aizawa sensei," Asui commented, and Midoriya nodded.

"Let's get closer."

Asui eyed Midoriya with concern. "That's dangerous, Midoriya! I'm sure he'll be okay."

"And what if he's not?" When Midoriya turned to look at Asui, there was a glimmer of determination in her eyes. "We can just check in on him. If he's okay, we leave - and if it's too dangerous, we grab him and leave."

Asui couldn't very well argue with Midoriya. If there was a way to save Aizawa sensei, Asui would gladly do so.

They approached the center of the arena without any trouble. Aizawa sensei was doing fairly well against the group of villains, but it was clear that fatigue was starting to set in.

Without a word, Midoriya and Asui watched as Aizawa sensei incapacitated two villains by slamming their heads together with his scarf. Seamlessly, he turned to roundhouse kick another opponent. His hair was on end and his goggles made it impossible to tell who he chose to target with his quirk.

Further towards the fountain in the exact center of the room stood two villains - one with pale skin and an assortment of blue hands grasping all over his body, and the other had a monstrous body and thick beak. His brain was exposed, and Asui shuddered as his eyes darted back and forth across the battlefield between them.

As Aizawa sensei threw a final enemy away from him, he charged towards the two. He had apparently deemed that the man with the hands was an easier target, or perhaps a greater threat, as he aimed his attack for this smaller individual.

With an uneasy, irritated motion, the man with the hands grabbed Aizawa sensei's elbow as it came at his face, stopping him in his tracks.

"You are so intent on saving them, Eraser Head." With horror, Asui watched as Aizawa sensei's arm dried immediately. Flakes of skin peeled away and fell to the floor, revealing blood and muscle underneath. "How does it feel, knowing they're so stupid?"

Before he could pull away, the other villain, looming well over Aizawa sensei's height, punched him square in the stomach. He was launched back towards the other villains, some of whom were waking up.

He fell to the ground, surrounded by the weaker villains yet again. The two greater villains advanced towards Aizawa sensei.

"Asui? I have a plan."

Without a word, Asui turned to Midoriya and nodded to show she was listening.

"Grab Aizawa sensei with your tongue and lift him off the ground when I tell you to, okay? Then pull him towards us, but you have to get him off the ground first. Are you able to do that?"

"Yes, but why?" Even through her fear, Asui's need for logic kept her curious.

"Just trust me. This has to work. When I say your name, that's when you'll know to do it."

Asui turned back just as the large villain smashed Aizawa sensei's head into the ground. It was on top of him, crushing him beneath it.

Just then, the villain made of purple mist appeared - the one who had split the class and sent them into different areas of the USJ. "Is Thirteen dead?" The man with the hands asked.

"No. And… to make matters worse, one of the students escaped. He will quickly warn the other pros." Even though his face was not visible, the purple mist seemed almost afraid. As though he knew punishment awaited him for his failure.

"Ah. Well." The man with the hands scratched at his neck. "Well, well, well, Kurogiri, that wasn't very helpful of you. I suppose we'll have to make our exit. No sense waiting for the Symbol of Peace now, he'll show up with all the other bosses."

Asui and Midoriya exchanged a look. "So… they're leaving?" Asui asked.

"I don't know. Stay alert," Midoriya replied.

Asui turned back to watch the fray, very aware that she wouldn't be able to lift Aizawa sensei if he was pinned beneath the beaked villain. Even if he wasn't pinned down, Asui still wasn't used to using her tongue quite this much, and she wasn't sure she would be able to support his weight from such a low angle like this.

"A few dead kids should demoralize him, though." Asui wasn't prepared for the man with the hands to lunge for her, but Midoriya reacted extremely quickly, landing a punch to the villain's chest as he neared them.

"Asui!" Midoriya shouted. The veins in her arm glowed with a warm, red light as she prepared another punch.

It took only a second for Asui to realize that she was instructed to grab Aizawa sensei when Midoriya called her name. With a deep breath, she did as she was asked. Midoriya was winding up to punch the man with the hands, and several of the other villains had gotten on their feet by this point as well.

As though in slow motion, Asui could see the beaked villain's eyes dart to his endangered companion. He got up and rushed to the aid of the man with the hands right as Asui's tongue reached Aizawa sensei. With all her might, she wrapped her tongue around Aizawa sensei's waist and tugged him upwards as high as she could. She managed to get his body a foot or two off the ground.

The beaked villain looked ready to intercept Midoriya's punch, stepping between her and the man with extra hands.

At the last second, she diverted the course of her punch, driving her arm into the ground at her feet. The earth in front of them crumpled like paper, pushing all of the villains back and causing them to lose their footing on the tremorous ground. As quickly as she could, Asui lifted Aizawa sensei further into the air and back towards them.

"Hold on!" Midoriya yelled. Out of the corner of Asui's eye, she could see a kind of green electricity sparking off of Midoriya's body. The next moment, Midoriya had grabbed her with one arm and started carrying her away from the fight, through the water and onto dry land in the span of a few seconds. Asui's tongue stretched farther than she was accustomed to at the sudden change in speed, but she squeezed her tongue tightly around Aizawa sensei's body to bring him along with.

Midoriya slowed to a stop as they got away, allowing Asui's tongue to catch up. By this point, they had made it most of the way to the entrance, where less commotion was going on.

"So you're quirk lets you go super fast, too?" Asui asked, panting slightly and tongue still gripping Aizawa sensei. "It seems a lot like All Might's quirk."

Midoriya smiled a little shyly as she put Asui down. "Yeah, it does kind of seem like All Might." The two began to carry Aizawa sensei together, though Midoriya only had one unbroken arm, and even her one good arm had a broken finger.

"Really, Midoriya, I can carry him."

"No, Asui! I insist, I can help! If we both carry him, maybe we can get up there faster."

"Midoriya, please call me Tsuyu."

"Right. Tsuyu."

Suddenly, a huge banging sound diverted their attention. Their heads snapped to the front of the room, where the main double doors had blown wide open to reveal a familiar face.

Asui felt the corners of her mouth curl up into a smile.

"Fear not. I am here."

* * *

AN: Hi there, again! The TL;DR of this chapter is just that Midoriya has her quirk now, and I like Asui... she's adorable. I know that a lot of the dialogue in this one was pretty similar to the manga/anime, and for that, I apologize. Again, I don't own any of it.

Thanks for reading this far! This chapter has been the most fun one for me so far.

Oh, and by the way, you're awesome. Have a great day!


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Hello there, again! I wrote this chapter pretty early this morning, before I'd even had my coffee.

I realized these chapters really don't flow super well together. For clarification purposes, the first chapter was setting up the rest of this, which has all been a flashback. Also, there are a lot of things that happen between chapters that I'm not writing into this story, both to help keep these chapters short and because the events are just too similar to the manga/anime for me to justify writing them out. It ends up creating a lot of confusion, though... and that's on me.

This is a long way of saying thanks for continuing to read, even though it's confusing. It means a lot to me!

* * *

Chapter 6: I Know Her Better

Bakugou's mouth hung wide open in shock. With a single flick of her finger, Deku had managed to blow Todoroki's wall of ice to pieces. The shock wave blew shards of ice all around the stadium as Todoroki braced himself with his quirk to keep himself from getting pushed out of bounds.

When Todoroki threw another wall of ice at her, it was as though Deku was enveloped in green electricity - she bounded over the advancing wall with alarming speed. She landed to Todoroki's right, as that was the side most obscured by the wall. Within a few seconds, Deku managed to get a good hit on the boy, and it obviously knocked the wind right out of him as he flew backwards.

As the chilled battle continued, Bakugou's mind was racing. How had she hidden a quirk from him for so long? What kind of skinny, little girl hid this much power in her?

Every questionable thing she had done flashed through his memory as she maneuvered around another wall of ice. She had made it into U.A., which was ridiculous. With no quirk, not even this crazy, self-destructive power, she had passed the entrance exam.

She had managed to come in 16th place in Aizawa's "quirk apprehension tests," despite not having a quirk to assess. The following day, Deku defeated him, Bakugou, predicting his every move in All Might's first practical exercise on the second day of school. She had read even attacks he had never used before, and she had never had to use this overpowered quirk at all. In fact, Bakugou was still convinced she hadn't ever used it before the attack at the USJ.

Speaking of the USJ, she had apparently been the one to save the day then, walking off a broken arm as though none of what she had done was out of the ordinary. She saved Aizawa sensei, stalling the villains long enough for All Might to arrive and kick their asses.

Even during the festival, Deku stopped at the finish line of the obstacle course - hesitating just for a moment to come in third, rather than first or second. With no explanation, she let up her pace to allow that half-and-half bastard to get the better of her, and she even let Bakugou come in a close second. She couldn't have possibly known that the first place finisher would have a massive target on their back for the chariot battle, yet she had refrained from taking first place for some unknown reason.

And now, here she was. She destroyed a massive wall of ice from one of the strongest students in the class with the tiniest of physical motions - just a little snap between her fingers.

"Midoriya's pretty intense, isn't she?" Kirishima asked from beside Bakugou. His voice was full of a genuine awe that somehow made Bakugou even angrier.

He turned to face Kirishima, whose mouth hung open just as wide as Bakugou's had a moment ago. "What is that supposed to mean, Shitty-hair?"

Kirishima couldn't even bother himself with a response, he was so engaged in the fight before him.

Bakugou wasn't sure why he cared. Kirishima could think whatever he wanted.

By the time he returned his gaze to the fight, Todoroki's flames had incapacitated Midoriya. The sheer heat from his attacks was enough to sublimate his own walls of ice instantaneously, and the heat reached the students' box at the top of the stadium easily.

Todoroki had never used his flames before. Why now? What had Deku done to get so much passion out of the boy?

Bakugou could see the smile on her face from a mile away as she hit the inner wall of the stadium. She seemed oddly content with this loss, like she had been oddly content to come in third during the obstacle course.

Deku was content getting this passion out of Todoroki. She didn't need to fight Bakugou in this tournament - that wasn't her goal. Her goal seemed to revolve entirely around Todoroki.

"You alright, man?" It was Kirishima again, this time turning his attention fully toward Bakugou.

"Shut up! I'm fine." Bakugou got up and out of his seat, fully intent on meeting Deku in the infirmary. He was about to have a nice, long chat about her strange behavior and this newly-found quirk of hers.

Kirishima followed him, and Bakugou's lip instinctively curled into a scowl.

"Listen, I know you want to go talk to Midoriya, right? But she's hurt, so you should talk to her later. Let her rest!" Kirishima said, falling in step beside Bakugou. The two entered the internal structure of the stadium as Bakugou made his way quickly towards the stairs.

"I don't give a damn if she's hurt! How dare she lie to me? How dare she hold back against me?" If she'd had this strength before, she should have used it to ensure she got into U.A. She should have used it in her fight against Bakugou on the second day of class.

"Hold on-" Kirishima grabbed Bakugou's arm, causing him to yank his arm away and spin to face Kirishima angrily.

"She lied to me! Or - or she underestimated me. I don't understand what she's doing. I've known her my entire life, and I have no idea what she's trying to do anymore!" Bakugou shouted. Kirishima took a step backwards in shock. "I know she needs to win, just like me, so why was she so content to lose just now?"

"What's this about, Bakugou?" Kirishima yelled back.

"A month ago, she didn't have a quirk! She didn't have one!"

Kirishima looked at Bakugou with a hint of concern, a hint of fear - and just a hint of pity. "Bakugou, she said she had never used it before the attack at the USJ. She had it, she just never used it."

"That's not true. When we were kids, she would have told me anything. Even if it killed her, she would have showed me if she had a quirk."

Kirishima stepped forward, now that Bakugou seemed a little calmer. "How can you possibly know that?"

"I know her. I know her better than anyone else here, and she didn't have a quirk. If she'd had one, there's no way she wouldn't have used it," Bakugou said quietly. "Or, at least, I thought I knew her."

Kirishima took a deep breath. "You can talk to her about this later, right? When she's feeling a little better."

Bakugou closed his eyes and nodded. For now, perhaps it was a better idea to focus on the tournament, anyway.


	7. Chapter 7

AN: Hello there! This one was pretty rushed in the editing stage of things, and I'm sorry that I'm posting a little later than usual. Also, I've had "romance" as one of the genres since the beginning. You have been warned.

Thank you all for reading this far! Enjoy your day and do something nice for yourself. You're awesome.

* * *

Chapter 7: The World Came Crashing Down

This was all pretty foreign to Todoroki, and he was extremely uncomfortable with it. The way his stomach kind of flipped over and his heart skipped a beat whenever he looked at her made him feel uneasy, more than anything.

"Midoriya, can I talk to you for a minute?" Without a better plan, Todoroki figured he'd just confront whatever this strange feeling was. He didn't want to feel uncomfortable around Midoriya, given how kind she had been to him.

"Sure, Todoroki! What's on your mind?" She flashed him a wide smile as he fell in step beside her. They were leaving class the day after the sports festival.

Todoroki cleared his throat as heat rose into his cheeks. He was afraid he'd start sweating, so he activated his ice quirk to cool off his skin. How Midoriya's smile could trigger such an obnoxious bodily response was unknown to Todoroki. "I wanted to thank you for what you did yesterday."

Midoriya tilted her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

Todoroki took a deep breath. "I've only ever associated my left side with my father… I thought I had to cut it off entirely in order to be a better person. I understand now that I can be a lot stronger if I don't limit myself like that."

"You don't need to rush it, you know. I pushed you kind of hard." Midoriya ran her hand through her hair and averted her eyes. "Really, I should be apologizing."

"Nonsense. I refuse to trivialize your encouragement. It meant a lot to me," Todoroki clarified. "I'm not sure how to replay you."

Midoriya blushed. "Oh, no, that's not… there's nothing you owe me."

With all the strange emotions that filled Todoroki's head, he wasn't so sure he could agree. Clearly, there was some sort of mental divide he had to cross, or else he would eternally view Midoriya with just a hint of discomfort.

"I… guess, if you say so," Todoroki muttered.

"Um, Todoroki? Are you ok?" Midoriya affixed her gaze on Todoroki with genuine concern, and he felt his heart flutter a little in his chest. Suddenly, he was quite aware of how cold he felt. He looked down to discover he was actively freezing his body - his right hand was almost entirely encased in ice and his breath was clearly visible as he exhaled. He hadn't subconsciously used his quirk like this in years.

Quickly, Todoroki activated his fire quirk to defrost himself. He didn't have the same practiced control over his left half, causing him to singe his collar in his haste.

"I'm fine. Just a little… out of it today."

The two turned the corner as they walked down the hall, only to hear Kaminari's distinctive laughter as Jiro punched him in the shoulder. "Stop it, Denki!" she shouted, pulling her earphone jack out of Kaminari's phone.

He laughed even harder as he disengaged from her reach. "I'm sorry!" He said between fits of giggles as Jiro caught up to him. "That's the last time I'll do it, I swear!"

"Hey guys!" Midoriya called. Bless her heart, Todoroki thought. She couldn't walk past anyone she knew without saying hello. "What's going on?"

"I'm being harassed," Kaminari replied, causing Jiro to roll her eyes.

"Don't worry about it, Midoriya. He's just being annoying, as always."

Todoroki gave Kaminari a quizzical look as the two pairs approached one another. Kaminari shrugged his shoulders, still looking very amused with himself.

"There's this new album I'm showing her, but I keep cutting it off by playing one of All Might's ringtones," Kaminari explained quietly to Todoroki. Todoroki raised an eyebrow. Of course, he thought, Kaminari would have All Might-themed ringtones. Midoriya would have them unironically, but Kaminari would absolutely buy an All Might ringtone just to annoy someone.

Kaminari's admission of guilt earned him a slap on the back of the head. "I can hear you, you idiot. My quirk is entirely based on sound!"

"Ow! Kyoka," Kaminari whined.

She scoffed. "You're gonna make me late. Let's go, Denki." With a small smile, she looked back at the other two. "See you both tomorrow."

Midoriya waved goodbye. "Bye, Jiro! Bye, Kaminari!"

Todoroki nodded in agreement as the thunderous pair continued down the hall, leaving Midoriya and Todoroki behind. Before vanishing through the door at the end of the corridor, Kaminari draped his arm over Jiro's shoulder and whispered something to her. When she turned to look at him, the two kissed.

When they passed through the door and out of sight, Todoroki blinked a few times.

"Kaminari and Jiro are…"

Out of the corner of his eye, Todoroki could see Midoriya smile. "Yup! Ever since the USJ."

"Why?" Todoroki asked. Why did those two like each other? Kaminari was lighthearted and ridiculous, while Jiro was introverted and mostly serious. Their personalities seemed to clash with one another heavily.

"Well, during the attack, the two of them were teamed up with Yaoyorozu to fight. They had each others' backs the whole time," Midoriya explained. "Sometimes, when you go through something scary like that, you can form a special bond with someone."

It took Todoroki a moment to fit the pieces together in his mind. "Oh," he said simply. So that's what this was.

The pair stood together in the hallway for a moment before Todoroki turned to face Midoriya, prompting her to do the same. "Midoriya, I think I like you."

Her cheeks immediately burned bright red and her jaw fell slightly agape. "What?" she asked, eyes wide.

"It makes sense. I've been thinking about you a lot ever since our fight. It was a lot more emotional for me than the attack at the USJ." Todoroki tilted his head. If this was attraction, he couldn't say he really enjoyed the feeling. "Every time I look at you, I feel slightly uncomfortable. Is that how it's supposed to feel?"

Midoriya took a step back. "You feel uncomfortable? I mean, I'm no psychiatrist, but that doesn't sound like a crush." She seemed completely caught off guard as she attempted to formulate a proper response.

"Just because you feel strong emotions doesn't mean you're attracted to me. It could mean you're angry with me, or scared, or overwhelmed, or a thousand other things."

"I know, but I've been angry before, and I've been scared. And yes, I'm very overwhelmed by this, but it's not just that." Todoroki sighed, frustrated that he was struggling so hard to convey his thoughts. "I've never felt like this before. It's weird and uncomfortable, but I don't want to stop thinking about you. I don't want to stop being your friend." He didn't know how to explain himself - he wanted to be around her, to talk to her, to walk with her like this.

"You don't have to stop being my friend, Todoroki. Not ever," Midoriya said. "If you think you like me - well, let me ask you this way. Could you imagine putting your arm around my shoulder like that? The way Kaminari did with Jiro?"

This gave Todoroki pause. This whole conversation was so far beyond his comfort zone that he really wasn't sure he could imagine tucking Midoriya's frame in the crook of his arm. He couldn't think about resting his chin on the top of her head, or what he'd whisper in her ear to make her face him. He didn't want to think about calling her Izuku, or having her respond by calling him Shoto...

He couldn't imagine kissing her. Not now, at least. Not if it made his heart pound this loudly in his chest, and his fire quirk start to sizzle at his scar.

"I… I don't know."

Midoriya nodded. "Let's put this conversation on hold, ok? There's a lot going on right now, with the end of the sports festival, and having to apply for internships… we can always come back to this later, when we've had a chance to think about it. There's no need to rush this."

The two stood silently in the hallway for another minute as Todoroki took a few deep breaths. That was clearly a good option, as far as he was concerned. He needed more time to process this. Maybe some time away from Midoriya's bright face would do him some good.

"When you told me that this was my quirk… that my fire was my own… it was like the world came crashing down around me. My whole life, I'd shunned half of myself. Half of my body, half of my power… half of my personality, even. I'd built up a wall between my right side and my left side, a wall between my present and my past." Todoroki looked down at his hands, one of which was sweating and one of which was almost numb with cold.

"The wall was shattered, and out of all the broken pieces, you were whole. I don't want to be in pieces anymore, Midoriya. I don't want to be half of myself anymore."

Midoriya smiled at him, pushing his hands together. The two varying temperatures battled against one another, almost stinging his skin for a moment before his palms found equal ground. "You'll get there, one day." She paused before adding, "You know, it's strange how we see things so differently. When I want to hurt someone, I have to break my own bones - and yet you describe me as 'whole.'"

Todoroki let out a bit of a laugh, smiling in a strangely genuine way. He liked this feeling, where his fingers could interlock with one another to make his hands finally feel like the same temperature. "I guess I didn't really think of that."

"For now, we have internships to worry about and exams to study for - and we can always come back to this another time."

Perhaps, Todoroki thought. Perhaps it was best to simply move on and worry about all of this later. As they continued down the hallway and out U.A.'s front doors, Todoroki found that it was his own fingers he wanted to interlock, his own world he wanted to build. Simply walking aside his friend with the green hair and listening to her excited stories was enough for him.


	8. Chapter 8

AN: Hi there! I just realized that I've made it through a whole week of this and there are still people reading. So, you know, thanks, and I hope you have a nice day!

I'm not gonna lie, I didn't have the guts to include alcohol. I know it's not particularly realistic to have a high school party with no alcohol, but... well, I'm sorry.

* * *

Chapter 8: Let's Party

With the internships coming up, most of class 1-A was concerned with getting their placements and studying for finals. However, the waiting game had gotten to some of them; the class could tell that Kaminari in particular had grown rather restless after submitting his application.

"We should have a party," he had recommended, causing Jiro to snort from her seat beside him. "No seriously, we're all wound up pretty tight."

"You're the only one that is," Jiro shot back.

"You know, Jiro, it might not be a bad idea," Yaoyorozu replied thoughtfully. "We can have it at my place!"

"Yeah, Yaomomo! Let's party!" Kaminari shouted.

And with that, they were off to the races. Yaoyorozu took a small group consisting of Ashido, Hagakure, Uraraka, and Jiro to her house that afternoon to make arrangements for decorations. Kaminari, Sero, and Kirishima were placed in charge of music, much to Jiro's chagrin.

"He'll just play meme songs," Jiro whined.

Kaminari shouted, "I will not!" He pretended to be offended, but his motions were woefully overacted.

The final concern was the food and drinks, which Yaoyorozu said she could take care of on her own. "No one bring alcohol, okay? My parents will kill me. And honestly, we're U.A. students, so there's a higher standard for us than for most high school students."

If any of the others thought she was a little too uptight, none of them said anything. Ashido, for one, thought Yaoyorozu's praise for their status was out of pride, more than anything else. Ashido presumed that even Kaminari could manage to stay sober in order to keep Yaoyorozu out of trouble.

The party was set for the night before the students left for internships, which Ashido thought was a little dangerous. If anything stupid went down at the party, they'd be forfeiting their internship opportunities. She wasn't about to complain, though - all they had to do was not be stupid, and everything would turn out okay.

By the time she arrived, a large collection of students was already there. She could see Kirishima and Tetsutetsu messing around with Sero's tape, and Kaminari sitting on the couch with Jiro leaning against him. Uraraka was talking loudly with a somewhat more reclusive Asui, and even Todoroki had decided to show his face. Ashido couldn't quite tell from this angle, but she could almost swear he was smiling at Midoriya, who was giggling happily. Ojiro was near the entrance, and Ashido thought he was talking to himself at first before realizing that Hagakure was sitting beside him, fiddling with his tail.

"Okay, I understand inviting a few of the students from class B, but why the hell did we invite Monoma?" Hagakure asked as Ashido passed by.

Ojiro shrugged, and even Ashido could tell he was looking elsewhere. It appeared as though he was looking at Kaminari, of all people, rather than really engaging in his conversation with the invisible girl. "You can just avoid him, you know."

"I can't avoid him! He's so loud and mean!" Hagakure continued. "He acts like he's so much better than us, but he's not! I wish he hadn't showed up at all." Her actions with Ojiro's tail were dramatic and exaggerated, causing Ojiro to finally turn towards her with a smile.

"Hagakure, we know he's not any better than us." By this point, Ashido had left their earshot, but she was proud of Hagakure for finally making a move.

Ashido smiled to herself as she disappeared into the mass of her fellow classmates.

* * *

"Yaomomo, whoever made the cupcakes is amazing!" Ashido praised as she took a third one from the tray. "Was it the same chef as all the other stuff?"

Yaoyorozu smiled. "Actually, that was Sato! He was kind enough to make them for the party."

Ashido's eyes widened. "Sato is a chef? That's so cool!"

"It does make sense, given what his quirk is, you know. The more sugar he consumes, the stronger he becomes. The fact that he is so skilled at baking can be a huge asset for him," Yaoyorozu commented with a pensive look on her face.

"Well, yeah, but it's also cool because baking is so hard, and these are incredible!" Ashido took a huge bite out of the cupcake, bisecting it easily.

Yaoyorozu smiled at her. "That too."

"Anyway, Yaomomo, what's up with you and Iida, huh?" Ashido had held in the question for as long as she could after hearing a rumor from Hagakure about seeing the two talking.

Yaoyorozu blushed heavily. "Nothing's official, ok?" she said, putting a finger to her lips. "We don't know if we like each other."

"Been on a date yet?"

Yaoyorozu shook her head. "Especially not since the sports festival."

"Oh yeah… I hope his brother is ok."

"He's recovering in Hosu. Anyway, do you mind if I talk to some other people? I want to make sure everyone's doing alright." Yaoyorozu was eyeing Tetsutetsu and Sero, who had teamed up to restrain Monoma. Somehow, they had managed to tape him to a wall.

Ashido smiled. "Of course! Go ahead." Yaoyorozu took off in the boys' direction.

"Hey, Kirishima, have you tried Sato's cupcakes yet?" Ashido asked as her red-haired friend walked past. He had a cup of sprite filled almost to the brim in one hand that he almost spilled as Ashido latched onto his arm.

"Yeah! They're really good!" Kirishima replied happily as he steadied himself. "Are you ok?"

Ashido nodded. "Though to tell you the truth, I think the sugar is getting to me. And, you know, there's that whole situation." She motioned in the general direction of Kaminari and Jiro, who had been sitting beside one another on the couch ever since Ashido arrived.

Kirishima gave her a look, and even in through her sugar rush, Ashido could tell he was genuinely concerned. "You know he's taken."

Ashido sighed loudly. "Yeah, but he's so pretty, Kirishima."

"Ashido…"

"I won't do anything! Jiro's my friend," Ashido remarked with a pout. "My extremely lucky friend."

"And it should stay that way, right? Rather keep the friend than get the boy. The girl's version of bros before hoes, that's what you should be saying all night," Kirishima said.

"Yeah. You're right."

Kirishima nodded. "Yes I am. Anyway, Sero's over there, and he doesn't think I can chug a whole cup of freshly poured sprite in under 10 seconds, and he's absolutely wrong."

And off he was, leaving Ashido alone to stare at Kaminari as he turned to give Jiro a kiss on the cheek. They seemed so happy, sitting there together.

Ashido sighed, quietly this time, as her heart pounded in her chest. It wasn't just the cupcakes at this point - she had consumed quite a bit of soda, a few other treats, and pretty much nothing of substance. She knew she was going to crash soon, but she finished the cupcake anyway.

"Denki, why do you say stuff like that? You know it bothers me," Jiro said. It was pretty quiet, but Ashido was just close enough that she could overhear her.

"I don't mind it, you know," Kaminari replied, grinning. "I have a manly wife."

"I'm not your wife, and I'm not a man." It was clear this was not the only issue weighing on Jiro's mind, given how angrily she threw Kaminari's arm from her shoulder. "You guys always make jokes about how butch I am, and it bothers me, and you keep doing it anyway."

"I'm sorry, Kyoka. You know I don't mean it." Kaminari poked Jiro in the side, grinning. She was so upset that she got up.

"Then don't say it, ok?" With that, she took off towards the door and disappeared into the massive courtyard outside.

Kaminari sighed and leaned back into the couch in a bit of frustration. Ashido was more than a little confused. Jiro was usually so secure with her image, so for Kaminari to have pushed her past her comfort zone, there had to have been a bigger story.

Before she could stop herself, Ashido made her way over to the couch and sat down beside Kaminari. "What's going on?" she asked quietly.

"Kyoka freaked out. I don't know what's gotten into her," Kaminari muttered. He wiped his face down with his hands and turned to look at the front door.

"What did you say?" Ashido asked, hoping to get more details. If she could figure out why Jiro was upset, maybe she could help in calming her down.

"I made a joke," Kaminari said, turning back towards Ashido. "But I've made jokes like that before and they didn't bother her."

Ashido furrowed her brow. "Well, then clearly there was something else going on."

Kaminari snorted. "Go figure." He sank into the cushions behind him with a heavy sigh. "My girlfriend hates me."

Ashido's eyes widened. "No, she doesn't. She's upset, but that doesn't mean she hates you."

"Yes she does. This was the last straw. I always bother her, I can tell. She's going to break up with me." He closed his eyes. "Do you think I'm funny?"

"What?" Ashido leaned a little closer to Kaminari.

His eyes snapped open and he looked at her. "Do you think I'm funny? Kyoka just thinks all my jokes are annoying."

Ashido paused for a second. "Yeah, I think you're funny."

He smiled at her, and she felt the world around them spin to a stop. "You're not just saying that?"

"I think you're funny!" Ashido was thankful for her pink skin, of only because it was useful in camouflaging the blush that was growing in her cheeks. "I'm sure Jiro does, too. She just acts like she doesn't."

"Do you think I'm handsome?"

"I - um," Ashido began, unsure of what to say. This conversation had quite quickly gone off the rails and into a bizarre direction.

He was leaning towards her, with that charming smile on his face. "I think you're pretty."

Whether it was the sugar or her crush on him that kept her from leaving, she wasn't sure. At the end, it didn't matter - when he kissed her, she kissed him back.

"Denki?" The two broke apart as though Kaminari had shocked them at the sound of Jiro's voice. They whipped around to see her standing behind the couch rather dejectedly. Ashido's heart sank at Jiro's look. She didn't even seem mad, just… disappointed. "Yeah, it's over."


	9. Chapter 9

AN: Hi there, all of you who aren't bored of me yet. Sorry about the late upload, and tomorrow I'm gonna be pretty busy so I'm probably going to post around 1-2 am (PST) like today. Thanks again for stopping by! This chapter's pretty short, and it's mostly just a filler to get through the internships.

BTW, I appreciate all reviews/comments, even if I don't reply. I tend not to know what to say in response, but I really enjoy any feedback I can get. Anyway, have a nice day!

* * *

Chapter 9: Sir, I'm a Child

When the entire class gathered before departing for their internships, there was a certain aura of tension that kept them from speaking. Those who hadn't seen the kiss personally had been informed of the situation, and most were making a conscious effort to avoid talking to Jiro or Kaminari. Only Kirishima had attempted to speak with Ashido, who looked as though she had gotten very little sleep.

Ojiro, however, couldn't help but smile. He had not witnessed the kiss - he and Hagakure had left the main hall to explore some of the surrounding rooms in the Yaoyorozu's gorgeous mansion. Much to Ojiro's surprise, Hagakure had admitted she liked him, and the two held hands as they continued their informal tour of the place. Near the end of the night, Hagakure had even given Ojiro her number.

He was kind of glad they hadn't kissed yet, given the drama they emerged to find at the end of the evening. Ashido was in tears, Kaminari looked scared out of his mind, and Jiro was frighteningly calm.

But when Ojiro thought about the party, all he really cared about was how warm Hagakure's hand had been in his, and how she liked to play with the fur on the end of his tail. They talked about their goals and aspirations, their families and old friends. They clicked so well…

And so, Ojiro found himself smiling as he hugged Hagakure goodbye. "I'll see you in a week," he said.

"Well, you won't 'see' me," Hagakure replied, making Ojiro blush.

"I only meant - you know." He pulled back and held both of Hagakure's hands.

It was sweet, the way her hat moved to indicate she was looking down at their hands. Ojiro could tell she was smiling, too. "I know what you meant," she said quietly. "I'll see you next week."

Ojiro gave her a final smile before departing.

* * *

His finger hovered over the "send" button only a little too long to be acceptable. He read over his message about a dozen times, editing out words and rephrasing his thoughts.

Finally, he realized he had to send it quickly - he had been deliberating over the wording for far too long by this point. He hit the send button before he could stop himself.

 _Hey Hagakure! This is Ojiro. I just wanted to say hi so we can talk during the week._

When he read over it again, it seemed so awkward and a little creepy, but there was nothing he could do about it now. He put his phone face down on his temporary bedside table and turned out the light so he could sleep.

At the sound of a notification about five seconds later, Ojiro bolted upright and snatched his phone from the nightstand.

 _Hi Ojiro! You can call me Toru, you know. :)_

Ojiro's heart skipped a beat.

 _I'd say you can call me Mashirao, but Ojiro is probably easier._

 _I like your name, Mashirao!_ Her response didn't seem to take any more time than the previous one, so Ojiro felt a little more at ease. _I don't mean to change the conversation or anything, but wow. I mean, about Jiro and Kaminari and Ashido._

 _Yeah. that was pretty intense._

 _I heard Ashido's been crushing on Kami for like, a while now._

Ojiro snorted. _Well, that makes sense. I feel bad for Jiro, mostly._

 _Me too… I hope she gets over it soon._

 _I always kind of thought she was gay._ Ojiro admitted.

 _Hah! Now that thought is going to fester._

* * *

 _Today was pretty intense. Had to stop a robbery._

After the first night, Ojiro and Hagakure had texted for at least half an hour every evening. Though she had initiated most of their conversations, Ojiro figured he'd start this one.

 _Oh? Sounds exciting!_

 _Yeah. The villain ran into a bar, and my pro wanted me to go in after him to flush him out. I was like, 'sir, I'm a child, they won't let me in.'_

 _XD lol! So what did you do?_

Ojiro leaned back against his pillow with an exhausted sigh. He had done a lot of hard work that afternoon. _He went in instead. I had to make sure the villain didn't get away, which wasn't too bad. He wasn't expecting me._

 _Well, good job! All I did was almost lose a set of keys and fill out some boring paperwork… :'(_

 _Aw. I'm sure you'll get something exciting to do eventually._

"Hm." Ojiro looked down at his phone with a furrowed brow. It was fairly late on the final night of the internships, and he was hoping it was Toru. However, his bright screen informed him that it was a message on the class 1-A group chat, and it was from Midoriya.

When he opened the message, he was surprised to discover that it was a location - in fact, it was pointing to a small alleyway in Hosu city.

Ojiro was about to put his phone back down when he received another notification, this time from Toru.

 _Weird message from Midoriya. I hope everything's okay over in Hosu…_

Ojiro typed a quick response. _We're both pretty far away. It's not like we can do anything about it. TBH we should get some sleep._

Within a few seconds, Toru replied. _Hah! Sleep. As if._

Their conversation came to a stop as Ojiro thought of something else to say. Before he could respond, Toru sent another message.

 _I can't wait for tomorrow. :)_

 _What's tomorrow?_ He typed cautiously.

 _We get back, and I can see you again. ;)_

First he blushed, then he fell back onto his bed, and then he laughed quietly. It would be nice to see her again, too.


	10. Chapter 10

AN: Hello there! Back to some more weird questions about Midoriya and away from Kami/Jiro for the time being. Iida and Bakugou don't really care about what's going on with pikachu and his goth (ex) gf, so that's that.

Sorry for two late updates in a row, I should be back on track after this post. You're awesome. See you tomorrow!

* * *

Chapter 10: You've Made Your Point

Bakugou tried - really, he did - not to think much about Deku randomly sending her location to the entire class, but even he was having trouble putting the event aside. Eventually, he realized he needed to talk to someone about it.

"Hey - class rep." He never thought he'd actually want to talk to this particular classmate of his. In fact, Bakugou was already second guessing himself.

"Bakugou. How can I help you?" Iida turned to face him while simultaneously pushing up his glasses.

Bakugou sighed. "I want to know what happened in Hosu. You know, with the Hero Killer, and you, and Deku."

Iida's mouth became incredibly thin as he furrowed his brow, clearly in heavy conflict over what information he was willing to say. "You read it on the news, I'm sure."

Bakugou could feel the corner of his mouth curling upwards in a frustrated sneer. "Cut the crap. It can't be the way that was described in the news. The timeline doesn't make any sense." Bakugou pulled out his phone for evidence. "Deku sent her location long before Endeavor was said to arrive on the scene. You mean to tell me that Deku was just sitting there, getting attacked for 20 minutes before Endeavor arrived, and she did nothing? Also, I thought she said you were there before her-"

"Alright, alright, Bakugou. You've made your point. The fact of the matter is, I can't tell you what happened because the police instructed us not to do so." Iida took a deep breath and looked around. The two were alone in the hallway.

"So, that means you three - you, and Half-and-Half, and Deku - were fighting the Hero Killer on your own. You don't have your provisional licenses yet, so you would have been kicked out of U.A. and put on some watchlist somewhere."

Iida nodded.

Bakugou crossed his arms. "So did the three of you beat him?"

The tiny smile that flashed across Iida's face was answer enough.

"Tell me what happened, then. It's not like I'm going to tell on you. I have no reason to get you kicked out."

Iida narrowed his eyes for a split second as if to challenge Bakugou's claim. Bakugou sighed angrily. There was no reason, in his mind, that Iida should be worried about this. Bakugou had no motivation to get Iida in trouble.

"Really, I have nothing against you," Bakugou admitted.

"Right. You just have genuine distaste for every one of our classmates and an inexplicably gruff demeanor."

Bakugou rolled his eyes. Just because he didn't like his classmates didn't mean he actively hated all of them. "Whatever. I guess it's not like it really matters."

He turned to leave, wishing that the burning curiosity inside him would just burn itself out already. So they had fought Stain, so what? It answered his question. This time, Deku hadn't done anything suspicious. She had showed up, sent her location, and fought the Hero Killer alongside Iida and Todoroki.

"Although," Iida continued, "I will admit I also found flaws with the timeline."

Bakugou whipped around. "What do you mean?"

"Based on what Todoroki told me, the timeline laid out in the news was correct - Midoriya sent her location about 10 minutes before Todoroki arrived, and about 20 minutes total before Endeavor, but... I can almost guarantee that Midoriya didn't reach me 10 minutes before Todoroki. It was more like 4 or 5." Iida scratched at his chin. "I can't help but think that Midoriya sent my location before she reached me."

"She could have been waiting for a good time to strike," Bakugou suggested.

Iida gave a half smile. "I saw that green lightning from about a block and a half away. She... well, she wasn't waiting to strike. She attacked as soon as she arrived. And that would mean she sent my location before reaching me."

Bakugou was frozen still. Sent Iida's location… before she had reached him.

"But that's impossible, right? I must have been wrong - maybe… she had been fighting Stain for longer than I thought she was. I just could have sworn it was less than 10 minutes."

Somehow, Bakugou regained enough control over his muscles to nod quickly. "It's impossible," he muttered under his breath before turning on his heel and walking away from Iida as fast as he was able.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: It's Not a Party, It's a Social Gathering

Between the sports festival and internships and studying for finals, Yaoyorozu had not found much time to gather her thoughts. However, there were quite a few issues weighing on the tall teenager's mind.

First of all, she was clearly not as talented as she had previously believed herself to be, given how easily Tokoyami had defeated her in the tournament. She doubted that her abilities alone could have landed her a place in U.A. without her parents' sway on the situation, and the thought bothered her beyond belief. She needed to improve herself, that was for sure. She had to earn her place in class 1-A.

But Yaoyorozu couldn't invest much effort to this academic goal - there were so many other problems that seemed to come at her from every angle. The social disaster from the party weighed heavily on Yaoyorozu as she thought of any way she could have improved the situation. The party had been at her house, and she was one of the class presidents, meaning that she should have been able to keep Kaminari and Jiro together.

And even if Yaoyorozu could forgive herself for the party, she couldn't figure out what was going on with her own love life. She hadn't spoken much with Iida after his brother was hospitalized, but she had ignored how obviously upset he was. When she heard that Iida himself was targeted by the Hero Killer, she wished for his swift recovery, as well as Midoriya's and Todoroki's.

She hadn't spoken with Iida since before the internships. And, well, it bothered Yaoyorozu that she didn't really like him.

Obviously, they had a lot in common; she had initially approached him because they were both from affluent backgrounds, both had familial ties to the world of heroism, and it was pretty clear they were both studious and smart. He was also an excellent leader and a kind, but strict person. Someone down to earth and law-abiding, just like Yaoyorozu herself.

But similarity, in this case, did not lead to romance. Yaoyorozu could tell he wasn't attracted to her, either, from the way he started talking to that girl he defeated in the tournament. Her name was Hatsume, if Yaoyorozu remembered correctly, and she was clearly head over heels for Iida.

But Yaoyorozu didn't have time to think about any of these things. She was the leader of a study group consisting of Ashido, Sero, Jiro, and Ojiro, who each needed additional tutoring on different subjects.

"We can study at the school," Yaoyorozu had suggested, but Jiro dissented.

"Yaomomo, we can study at your house. I'm not made of glass, and it's not like I hate your house just because Kaminari sat on your couch."

Ashido had bowed her head a little, but Jiro paid her no heed.

It was strange, Yaoyorozu thought, the Jiro was so willing to put the entire encounter behind her so quickly. Kaminari hadn't just sat on Yaoyorozu's couch - he had cheated on Jiro there.

"If you're sure," Yaoyorozu replied, trying her best to hide the enthusiasm she had for inviting them back over. "I don't think you're made of glass, you know. I know you're quite capable."

Jiro gave Yaoyorozu a rare smile, which Yaoyorozu happily mirrored.

* * *

"Ashido, which way are you walking? We live in the same general direction, right?" Ojiro asked as he gathered his things.

Ashido furrowed her brow. "I think we do. I'm probably gonna take the train, though." With one fluid motion, she swung her bag over her shoulder.

"I'll go with you."

Yaoyorozu smiled as she closed up her final notebook for the evening. "I'll see you both at school tomorrow," she said happily.

"See you!" Ojiro called over his shoulder.

"Thanks again for all your help!" Ashido added.

Sero had left about an hour earlier, meaning that Jiro was the only one of Yaoyorozu's classmates who was still studying. It was pretty clear to Yaoyorozu that she understood the material, but she still insisted that they review the most recent topics in pretty much every single subject.

"Ashido's right. Thanks for your help, Yaomomo," Jiro said, looking up from one of the many textbooks sprawled on the table in front of her. She looked at her phone, and Yaoyorozu could read the look of surprise on her face as Jiro realized she must have been there for nearly 5 hours. "I can't believe I've taken up so much of your time! I'll get out of your hair, too."

"Oh, there's no need to rush! Really, I don't mind at all. Every time I go over a topic with you - any of you - I get to review that as well. This is the best way that I can study for the finals, too." Yaoyorozu didn't know why, but Jiro's surprise made her feel a little uneasy.

Jiro sighed. "I just wish it made more sense, you know?" She buried her face in her hands and ruffled her purple hair. "I've stared at this stuff for hours, and I can guarantee you I'm gonna get plenty of this wrong on the exam."

"Nonsense. From everything I can see, you really understand this. I mean, come on - you've nailed the last ten math problems I've given you, and your English is getting pretty damn good."

Jiro raised an eyebrow and gave Yaoyorozu an amused look. "I've never heard you swear before," she said with a sly grin.

Yaoyorozu blushed. "I swear, sometimes!"

"Uh huh. I mean, you just did." Jiro looked back down at her pile of notes and textbooks. "But, anyway. Do you really think I can pass this final?"

Yaoyorozu nodded immediately. "Of course! You're smart, you've studied quite a bit, and you are prepared. Just remember that. Besides, there's a practical, and you should have nothing to worry about there."

"Ugh! The practical! Don't remind me. You have such an obvious advantage - I can only do so much with my quirk. If the final doesn't have to do with reconnaissance or sound, I'm done for. Your quirk is so versatile. There's nothing they can throw at you that could make you fail," Jiro praised.

Yaoyorozu paused, simply take aback by Jiro's statements. "I mean, I have so many weaknesses, though," she began, thinking of her hesitation and lack of physical strength that lead her to failure against Tokoyami.

Jiro looked at Yaoyorozu as though she was crazy, shaking her head. "What weaknesses?"

Before Yaoyorozu could reply, her mother walked into the hall and cut off their conversation. "Momo, dear - oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't realize you still had a guest over." She strode toward the table and bowed to Jiro. "It's very nice to meet you. I'm Momo's mother."

Jiro bowed her head in return. "My name's… I'm Jiro. Jiro Kyoka. Thank you very much for having me and my classmates over, both for studying and the party last week."

Yaoyorozu's mom smiled. "Momo, I was just about to ask if you were going to introduce us to that nice Iida boy at some point.

Yaoyorozu ignored Jiro's smirk as she tried to find a suitable answer. "I told you, he's going through a lot right now, and I just want to make sure he's healthy and alright before bringing him here."

"Yes, it was a shame with his brother. How is Tensei?"

"He's doing better," Yaoyorozu said, though she didn't technically know.

Her mom smiled. "That's wonderful. Anyway, if you invite him over sometime, then he can see the house before the event next month."

Yaoyorozu was glad that her mom turned to offer Jiro more tea at that particular moment. This way, Yaoyorozu was able to hide her surprise.

"Right! The party," she said, silently admonishing herself for forgetting such an important date. It was a new fundraising opportunity her parents decided to try, where they would charge hundreds of thousands of yen for some of the wealthier families in the neighborhood to come by for a night of wine tasting and casual socialization. The hope was to donate money to a few of the rising local talents.

"It's not a party, it's a social gathering, Momo," her mom corrected. "You have asked Iida to come, right?"

Without hesitation, Yaoyorozu nodded. "Of course!" she lied.

"That's great. It will be nice for you to finally have a boyfriend to show off, of course. The Takahara's asked me the other day if you were… well, let's just say, there have been some nasty rumors going around, and it will be nice to put that to rest." With that, she left, leaving Yaoyorozu and Jiro behind in a cloud of confusion.

After a few seconds of silence, Jiro turned to face Yaoyorozu. "Did your mom just… I mean, I don't want to sound rude, Yaomomo, but…"

"No, it's not rude, Jiro. I think my mom just implied that she doesn't want our neighbors to think I'm a lesbian." Yaoyorozu couldn't take her eyes off of the door her mother had disappeared through. She had never heard anything so bizarre or antagonistic come from her parents, and she wasn't sure how to react.

Jiro was still looking at Yaoyorozu with a bit of concern. "Yaomomo, are you?"

"Am I what?"

"Are you a lesbian?"

* * *

Yaoyorozu walked up to Iida the following day as though on a mission.

"Iida?"

He looked up to meet her gaze. "Yaoyorozu?" He cleared his throat. "How are you?"

"Good, and I hope you are too, but that's not important right now. I have a huge favor to ask of you."

* * *

AN: Hi there. Apparently, I have subconsciously decided that the appropriate time to write fanfiction is from midnight to two in the morning, for some unknown reason. I know a lot of this reads pretty poorly, and it's because I'm tired and I really should have written this at a reasonable hour. (And I'll level with you - I didn't really edit this one either, so tell me if there are grammatical errors or anything like that.)

But you're really cool, and thanks for reading. Have a nice day!


	12. Chapter 12

AN: Hello there. Hope you're having a wonderful day! Just a short chapter this evening as I work my way to the end of season 2. For those worried about manga spoilers, I realize I should have specified earlier that I haven't read the manga. This fic will end where the anime is now... at the end of season 3.

Anyway, thanks for reading!

* * *

Chapter 12: The Finals

Uraraka was more than a little nervous to fight one of her idols during the finals, and she only became more uncomfortable after she and Aoyama defeated Thirteen.

"You want to be like Midoriya, and I don't blame you. Is it because you like her?" Aoyama had asked. It was true that the bubbly brunette often looked to Deku as an example, but she had never considered Deku to be anything more than a friend.

Uraraka viewed most of the remaining battles from Recovery Girl's station, including the tumultuous team of Deku and Bakugou against All Might. As Uraraka watched Deku convince Bakugou to help her, she couldn't help but admire Deku's strength, her agility - her intellect, and wit. Her camaraderie, her kindness, her perseverance…

Maybe Uraraka did like Deku. Maybe there was something to be said for how kindly she had treated Uraraka in their friendship, and how quickly Deku had been able to react to the zero-point robot in the entrance exam.

"Ochako?" At the sound of her name, Uraraka turned to see Tsuyu enter the room. "You did very well!"

"Same, Tsuyu! I was really impressed by you and Tokoyami," Uraraka replied with a happy smile.

Recovery Girl addressed Asui as well. "Did you need medical care, Asui dear?" she asked politely, to which Tsuyu shook her head.

"No, I'm okay. Thank you very much, Recovery Girl." She joined Uraraka, who returned her attention to the large screen before them. "Midoriya is really talented, isn't she?"

Uraraka nodded. "I just can't believe how… how well rounded she is, I guess." Uraraka twirled a few strands of hair around her fingers. "To think that she's this proficient with a quirk that only manifested a few months ago…"

The two continued to watch. Bakugou was shouting something derogatory at All Might as Deku snuck up behind him to deliver a powerful attack with one of Bakugou's detached gauntlets.

"That was a really good idea," Tsuyu commented. "I didn't know Bakugou could do that with his costume."

"Deku said he can make smaller grenades that hang on his belt, too," Uraraka explained.

"She really knows a lot about him, huh." Tsuyu shifted from foot to foot beside Uraraka. If Uraraka hadn't know Tsuyu as well, she would have assumed the girl was nervous.

Uraraka nodded. "They grew up together. Bakugou knows a lot about Deku, too."

The pair fell into silence, but Uraraka was now painfully aware of the other girl's movements. She hardly noticed when Deku and Bakugou crossed through the exit gate nearly a minute later.

"That Midoriya, always getting herself injured," Recovery Girl muttered as she gathered a few of her medical supplies and started walking out the door. "And All Might! He really does go too far sometimes. I'll see you ladies later."

She shut the door behind her, leaving Uraraka and Tsuyu to watch Deku as she caught her breath. Bakugou left her behind as he made his way back to the rest of the class. All Might emerged from the arena last, giving Deku a firm clap on the shoulder as he passed her.

They watched her catch her breath and smile - just a little grin of relief, directed at nothing in particular. Uraraka could feel her head spinning. It really did seem to Uraraka as though Aoyama was right. Maybe, just maybe, Uraraka had a massive crush on Deku.


	13. Chapter 13

AN: Hello there! This chapter has some... well, pretty small-scale "Two Heroes" spoilers. Just letting you all know.

I forgot to mention it yesterday, but Stan Lee deserves a shout out, and if I wasn't writing BNHA fanfiction, I'd be writing Marvel fanfic this month. He was and will remain an inspiration who forever changed the world of comic book superheroes. So, anyway, not to get sappy or anything, he just seemed like a really cool guy and I wanted to pay my respects.

Thanks again for reading, have a wonderful day, and never forget that you're awesome.

* * *

Chapter 13: What Are You Doing Here?

Kirishima was beyond upset that he had failed the practical exam, and therefore ecstatic to hear that he would still be allowed to attend the training camp in the woods. He felt a little guilty that his scores on the written finals were pretty lackluster as well - Bakugou had worked tirelessly with Kirishima in an attempt to improve his grades, but the results were only slightly better than the midterms. It was clear he was still struggling heavily with math and English.

"Hey, thanks again for helping me study," Kirishima said as he approached a pretty bored-looking Bakugou. Class had just finished on the last day of school before summer vacation, and they had just received their scores for the finals.

"Whatever, Shitty-hair. Did you get any better?" He didn't even look up to see Kirishima approach.

"Yeah!" Kirishima replied, trying to sound happy. He had technically improved, and Bakugou didn't have to know that it wasn't by much.

Bakugou grunted, picking at his nails with his feet kicked up on his desk. Kirishima furrowed his brow. Usually, Bakugou would have fired another insult as a response, or maybe decided to get up and move someplace else. This time, however, Bakugou simply waited for most of the class to leave the room while Kirishima stood awkwardly by his side.

While the "Deku-squad," as Kirishima liked to call it, had already left, there were a few stragglers still in the room. Jiro and Yaoyorozu were talking quietly with one another as they left, and Aoyama tripped over himself as he tried to get out the door.

Kirishima waved a few goodbyes to Ashido and Sero, realizing that he probably should take his leave as well. He started to walk, but Bakugou grabbed his forearm. "Wait a second," he muttered, refusing to talk again until even Aizawa had left the room.

"What is it, Bakugou?" Kirishima asked patiently, though he had to admit he was slightly concerned. "What did I do?"

"What - nothing, you idiot! You're fine! I just got an invite to that stupid I-Expo thing and it said I could bring a friend." Bakugou said, still not directly making eye contact with Kirishima.

The red-haired boy took in a deep, slow breath as his heart rate picked up. Bakugou's hand was still gripping his arm with quite a bit of force, and Kirishima's head started to spin.

"I'm… your friend?" he asked quietly.

His question finally elicited eye contact from Bakugou, who then rolled his eyes with vigor. "So that's a yes?"

"You haven't technically asked me anything, you know." A smirk rested on Kirishima's face, and Bakugou gave him a look that implied he wanted to blast that face into a million pieces.

"Forget it, Shitty-hair! I'll go by myself!" he shouted, nearly throwing Kirishima's arm away from him and out of his grasp.

Kirishima laughed. "Geez, Bakugou! Of course I'll go with you! It'll be fun!"

He continued to smirk at Bakugou, who looked as though he didn't think it would be any fun at all.

* * *

"What are YOU doing here?" Bakugou asked Midoriya with a violent snarl. He had launched himself at her the moment he'd seen her face, leaving Kirishima to chase after him.

"Stop it, Bakugou! You're gonna make the school look bad!" Kirishima yelled as he wrapped his arms around the angry blonde's waist and tried to pull him away.

Bakugou writhed in Kirishima's arms, letting out a few explosions. Kirishima activated his quirk to keep himself from being hurt as he slowly backed Bakugou away from Midoriya. He was still shouting all kinds of angry insults at the girl, and Kirishima even had to lift Bakugou off the ground to move him. "Let me go, Kirishima! She's always poking her nose in where she shouldn't!" Bakugou said. The fact that he had turned his attention to Kirishima implied that he was starting to calm down, but Kirishima still wouldn't release him.

"Sorry, Bakugou. Not until she's out of your sight."

Now, Bakugou's anger was shifting to Kirishima. "What, do you think I don't have object permanence? I'm gonna know she's still over there, Shitty-hair!"

Unfortunately for Bakugou, Kirishima's arm strength was a force he could not reckon with, and he was not in the mood to knock Kirishima out with a series of explosions. With an exasperated sigh, Bakugou slumped back into Kirishima's chest in defeat.

Kirishima dragged Bakugou's now limp body away from Midoriya, who Kirishima could now see was not alone. She was standing beside Iida, Uraraka, Yaoyorozu, and Jiro, as well as another girl who Kirishima had never met before. "Sorry about him, guys. We'll see you later!" He gave a huge smile that Midoriya returned.

"It's okay, Kirishima! And thanks." She waved goodbye, and Kirishima could hear Bakugou grunt angrily.

By the time Kirishima had dragged Bakugou far enough away from the others, Bakugou was just rolling his eyes and sighing heavily every couple of seconds. When Kirishima finally let go of him, he slouched and folded his arms across his chest.

"Are you pouting, Bakugou?" Kirishima asked, unable to keep a slight hint of amusement out of his voice.

"Shut up!" Bakugou said, stalking away from Kirishima.

Kirishima took a moment to collect himself before jogging after Bakugou, very much surprised to find how quickly his heart was racing. "Not again," he muttered quietly between deep, calming breaths.

* * *

Kirishima had read up on the invitation Bakugou had received for the I-Expo long before they had left on the trip. It had clearly mentioned that Bakugou and his guest should bring a set of formal clothes so they could go to the main event, which Kirishima was almost positive Bakugou wouldn't do.

In a covert (and potentially stupid) mission, Kirishima had spent a few weeks trying to figure out how to get formal clothes for Bakugou to wear. He had suggested hanging out with Bakugou, and Bakugou had (somewhat reluctantly) agreed. Fortunately, Bakugou had offered his house as a hang out location, which Kirishima immediately agreed on.

From there, it was easy enough to wait for the Bakugous to get in some sort of argument, and Kirishima sneaked a quick look at Bakugou's closet. Of course, there was nothing operable inside - it was as though Bakugou was adverse to formal wear on principle. So, Kirishima recorded Bakugou's pant and shirt sizes and went shopping the following day. He ended up purchasing a dress shirt, dress pants, and a rather nice vest.

However, as the two were situated in the gorgeous hotel room provided for them, Kirishima realized he may have overlooked just how stubborn Bakugou would be about this.

"Come on, you'll look good! We can just show face and then leave, okay?" Kirishima nearly whined at Bakugou. He was changing out of his hero costume and into the three-piece suit he had brought for himself.

Bakugou grunted in frustration from his bed, where he was sprawled out unceremoniously. "Kirishima…"

Kirishima froze, nearly dropping the suit jacket he held on a hanger in his hand. Bakugou called him by his name, rather than some sort of insult. "Please, Bakugou?" he asked as he regained his senses. There went his heart again, pounding through his ribcage yet again.

"How much did you pay for the outfit?" Bakugou asked.

With a wave of his hand, Kirishima dismissed the question. "It wasn't that much, and I can return it."

"Don't lie to me, Kirishima." Bakugou sat up. "I know you took the tags off already, because that's what you do. How much was it?"

"Seriously, don't worry about it!" Kirishima insisted. "And yes, I did take the tags off, but that doesn't matter. It wasn't that expensive."

"Hand it over." Bakugou reached out to grab the second outfit from the exasperated redhead.

Kirishima turned his back to let him change, listening for the rustle of fabric behind him to cease. After a second, Bakugou said, "So this is why you wanted to come over to my house. Did you raid my closet so you could buy properly-sized clothes for me?"

"Well you change quickly," Kirishima commented, deflecting the question as he spun back around. His breath hitched in his throat when he saw Bakugou glaring into the mirror. He was scowling, but there was a subtle air of smugness to his face, like he knew he looked good.

Kirishima ran his face through his hands and silently cursed himself. This was becoming more than a little frustrating. When was he going to get over this crush?

"Well? Let's go, Kirishima!" Bakugou said. "Hurry up."

"Yeah! Coming," Kirishima replied with a smile. He followed Bakugou out the door, sighing quietly to himself.

* * *

At the end of the night, that girl pulled Kirishima over to talk to him. She was named Melissa, or so Kirishima had been told, and she was the girl who had been standing with Midoriya when Bakugou had assaulted her earlier in the day. "Why don't you ask him out?" she asked quietly.

His face flushed bright red. "What do you mean?"

"The blonde boy." She gave Kirishima a kind smile.

"Is it… that obvious?" Kirishima's head drooped against his chest like a guilty puppy. He was exhausted from the night of conflict and he was eager to collapse in the hotel room at this point.

Melissa nodded. "Yeah. I mean, I've only known you for a few hours, and I can tell. Why are you hesitating to ask him out?"

"He's straight," Kirishima replied simply.

"How do you know that?"

"I know." Kirishima looked Melissa dead in the eyes as he said it. "He's straight, and that means he'll never like me."

Melissa sighed. "If you know that for certain... then I suppose that's legitimate." She paused for a second. "Straight guys will fuck you up."

Kirishima nodded, letting his gaze drift to land on the group of his classmates who had helped save the day. Bakugou was barking some sort of offensive comment at Todoroki, his sleeves ripped off and frayed at the shoulder - but Kirishima could feel a flutter in his chest as he looked at his angry friend.

"I'll get over it," he told Melissa, returning to his cheerful self in a matter of seconds.

"How long have you been telling yourself that?"

Kirishima's smile faltered for just a moment. He wasn't sure what Melissa saw in his eyes - whether it was his frustration, or his heartache, or his fear that came to the forefront.

"I… I don't know how long it's been. But I'll get over him."

Melissa gave him a sad smile, and the two walked over to join the rest of the group.


	14. Chapter 14

AN: Hello there! So this chapter happens during Two Heroes as well - all you need to know (for those who haven't seen it) is that Yaoyorozu brought all the girls along to the expo, but she could only bring Jiro and Uraraka in to the event with her. The other three were stuck in a hotel room, obviously complaining about Kaminari. I mean, obviously. I think, with Midoriya being a girl and all, Yaoyorozu would have invited her as well, but she was invited by All Might already. And I'm claiming that's not a spoiler for the movie - it's said early on.

All my uploads recently have been late, and I'm sorry about that. I wonder if anyone's reading at 2 am, but that's when I'm posting now. I'm trying to get an adequate amount of sleep, but it's hard... Anyway, you're cool, thanks for stopping by, and have a nice day!

* * *

Chapter 14: That's Midoriya For You

"Do we know when we're gonna get control of the internet again?" Ashido asked loudly as she sank into a comfortable lounge chair. Yaoyorozu had kindly brought all the girls from class 1-A along with her to the I-Expo, other than Midoriya. She had told the group that she was already invited by another person, though she had been unwilling to discuss who that individual was.

"No," Asui replied simply, pulling out a book from her suitcase. "There's not much we can do from here, either, so we might as well get comfortable."

"But I wanted to watch TV!" Ashido whined. "Now I just have to sit here and wallow in thoughts of inferiority."

"You're wonderful and gorgeous and perfect, Ashido. Why do you think you're inferior?" Hagakure asked. She was sprawled across half of the king-sized bed, wearing comfortable pajamas and filing her nails. She couldn't very well see them, but she could feel that they were getting too long and she was worried one would break if she wasn't careful.

Ashido sighed. "I just feel awful, you know? All the time."

"You don't have to. It's not like you did anything wrong. It was all Kami's fault," Hagakure replied. "He kissed you, right? And he cheated on Jiro. That makes this entire thing his problem. Jiro knows it wasn't you."

"But I kissed him back! And I liked him, and I went over there when I saw them fight, and maybe I wanted him to kiss me," Ashido said. She was so far slumped into the seat that her butt was almost entirely off the chair.

"So what? He's a cheater and a liar-"

"And what does that make me?"

Asui looked up from her book. "You're not an enabler, Ashido. When you went over to talk to Kaminari, that was your choice, but his actions were not. You can't blame yourself for what he did."

Ashido pushed herself up in the chair so she was actually sitting again. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. "I don't blame myself for… well, I know he kissed me, and that was on him, but it's not like I'm innocent! If I hadn't gone over there…"

"You don't know that they'd still be together, Ashido. Listen - it's not like Kaminari was totally faithful until you walked over there. He was flirting with that girl from class 1-B since he met her at the sports festival," Hagakure said. "My guess is that relationship wasn't gonna last another week, anyway." Finally having finished filing her nails, Hagakure sat up. "Besides, I think Jiro and Yaomomo are doing fine without Kaminari."

Ashido's eyes widened. "Really?"

Even Asui's gaze would not return to her book. She looked at the hair clip floating a foot above the bed, knowing that Hagakure's face was rather closeby. "Are they dating?"

Hagakure nodded, allowing the hairclip and shaken sheets to convey her answer. "And Yaomomo's having a party in a few weeks too, and she asked Jiro to go with her."

"A party? Why weren't we invited?" Ashido complained.

"Well, after the last one…" Asui muttered, but it was lost amid the other two excited girls.

"I think it's a super fancy thing, and I'm not even supposed to know about it," Hagakure explained. "I overheard Yaomomo invite Jiro before they noticed I was there." Being invisible made it easy to hear the strings of gossip that made their way around class 1-A.

Ashido grunted and slumped back into the lounge chair with none of her usual dexterity or grace. "I can be fancy," she said quietly, tugging at the tank top she was wearing that had the phrase "Plus Ultra!" across the chest.

"It might be a small gathering," Asui suggested. "Or maybe it's mostly for adults."

"Probably both," Hagakure replied.

The room fell into a short bout of silence, which was eventually broken by a noisy yawn from Ashido.

"So I'm not trash?" she asked the other two.

"No," Asui replied immediately.

"Not at all," Hagakure agreed. "But boys are gross."

Ashido smirked. "How's Ojiro?"

Another advantage of invisibility - no one can see you blush. "He's doing well," she replied with diplomatic patience.

"Uh huh," Ashido said, rolling her eyes in good nature. "Boys are gross."

"Fine - not all boys are gross. Are you happy now?" Hagakure asked, throwing a pillow at Ashido. She caught it with ease, breaking into easy laughter.

"What about you, Tsuyu? Got any crushes?" Ashido inquired of the shy, green-haired girl. "You and Tokoyami did really well during your finals." She raised an eyebrow suggestively.

It was very subtle, but the corners of Asui's mouth curled slightly upwards, and her cheeks turned slightly pink. "No, I don't like anyone," she said curtly.

Ashido and Hagakure very clearly exchanged a glance. Hagakure liked just how easy it was to connect with Ashido, even though Ashido couldn't see her face. "Um, nice try, Tsuyu!" Ashido jeered. "Is it Tokoyami?"

Asui buried her face in her book, but the rosy tint of her cheeks was incredibly obvious at this point. "No, it's not Tokoyami," she murmured. "And I'd rather not talk about it."

"Okay. We won't push you," Hagakure said, trying to reassure her nervous classmate. "And even if you told us, we wouldn't tell the guy…"

Asui didn't reply, but from her stationary eyes, it was easy to tell that she wasn't reading. She was just smiling, ever so slightly, thinking to herself about this crush of hers.

"Anyway, tell me if the internet starts up again," Ashido said through another yawn.

"We're gonna find out Bakugou or somebody caused this, aren't we?" Hagakure commented. He was always at the center of trouble, always picking a fight.

"Is he even here?" Ashido replied.

Hagakure paused. "He got on a plane and flew here, just to mess with our vacation," she clarified. "Then, he took out the internet."

"Well, if Bakugou broke the internet, we'll find out that Midoriya fixed it," Asui commented.

Hagakure grinned. "That's Midoriya for you."


	15. Chapter 15

AN: Hi there! This chapter turned out longer than I was expecting - it turns out when you mix nerd culture and weeb culture, I lose track of time and create some sort of monstrosity like this.

For the sake of simplicity (as I am afraid I did a bad job of explaining this in the chapter), here are the list of players and their characters:

Tokoyami = DM  
Sero = Rayek  
Kirishima = Treestump  
Ashido = Pike  
Shoji = Redlance  
Midoriya = Aroree  
Jiro = Vaya

(BTW, I got the names from one of my favorite stories ever, Elfquest. Maybe I ought to write some fanfic for that, too… It's a rather small fandom, but I like it a lot.)

Have a great day!

* * *

Chapter 15: If Kirishima's Not a Barbarian, I'm Rewriting His Character Right Now

Tokoyami could hear the group approaching the door a few seconds before they knocked. "Come in," he called. "It's open."

As he had expected, Sero led the way in. "I'm here! And I brought friends, as promised," he announced. Kirishima and Ashido sheepishly followed him into Tokoyami's house, looking around as though dazed.

"Welcome. Come and take a seat," Tokoyami said with characteristic formality and poise. He was seated at the head of his dining room table, situated with stacks of reference books to either side of him. "Can I get you anything?"

"Mind if I raid the fridge?" Sero asked, as was usual. Tokoyami gave him a curt nod. "You two want something to drink?"

"Water, please!" Kirishima said happily, and Ashido nodded in agreement.

As Sero took off for the kitchen, Kirishima plopped himself down into one of the six free chairs that lined the table, and Ashido took the seat directly next to him. "So, how do you play?" Kirishima asked intently.

Tokoyami's beak twitched upwards into a smile as he grabbed the Player's Handbook from the top of the pile of books to his left. "Well, here's the place to start. Let's make you both characters, shall we?"

He'd made dozens of characters before - written them into existence with little more than a few flicks of a sharp pencil - but when he made characters for other people, it was a whole other experience.

For Kirishima, finding a fitting class was simple; barbarian came to mind immediately. Totem of the Bear, of course, and a feat like Tavern Brawler that would make him better at fighting with his hands. Race - well, a usual choice would be half-orc, but he didn't exactly see Kirishima acting with that kind of brash stupidity.

"Thanks, Sero," Kirishima said, smiling easily as Sero handed him a glass of water, which he then proceeded to spill all over himself while attempting to take a sip. Tokoyami was suddenly reminded of the attack on the USJ, when Kirishima ran in to fight a villain made entirely of some sort of mist, and half-orc suddenly didn't seem like such an unreasonable fit.

"Kirishima, I'll give you two options," Tokoyami said, getting up to grab some paper towels. "I'm going to recommend that you play a barbarian-"

"Yes! That's what I was telling him," Sero agreed.

"-but you can be either a half-orc or a warforged as your race." He tossed the whole roll of paper towels over to Kirishima, who tore off a few sheets to mop up the water.

"What's the difference?" the redhead asked.

Sero's eyes widened. "Ooh, you should be a warforged," he said quietly. "More fun to role-play, in my opinion. But a half-orc would be pretty standard."

While Sero and Kirishima got to work on the barbarian, rolling up stats and assigning them properly, Tokoyami turned to Ashido. He had trouble thinking of a direct match for her, character wise, so he decided to ask her a few questions.

"Ashido, would you say you're more strong, or more agile?"

Ashido's eyes perked up. "Um, agile."

"And would you say you're smart, or would you say you're wise?"

She blushed. "Um, neither, really."

Kirishima overheard that, frowning. "Don't be so down on yourself," he admonished, punching her lightly in the shoulder.

Sero, on the other hand, turned to Tokoyami. "Wise. And something with high charisma."

This was starting to sound rather a lot like a bard, in Tokoyami's mind, so he flipped to read up on the class. He had personally never played a bard before, but he knew they were pretty powerful in 5th ed.

"Grab a character sheet," he instructed, and Ashido obeyed. "I think you should play a bard, if that's alright with you."

"What do they do?" she asked skeptically.

"Well, a bard can encourage their allies and give them bonuses with spells, and they can also do a bit of fighting, diplomacy, and all that kind of stuff," Tokoyami explained. "They're quite well-rounded, and their goal is to tell stories of their adventures."

"Plus, you get to go around battlefields shouting insults at people," Sero added.

Ashido seemed delighted by that idea, and she turned back to Tokoyami. "What race?"

"Tiefling?" he suggested. "They're the children of demons."

With wide eyes, Ashido nodded. "Yup, that's what I'm looking for."

* * *

Tokoyami was glad he had asked Sero to bring Kirishima and Ashido by an hour early to make their characters, given that it took almost the full allotted hour to finally get them situated. This was especially true given that he was having them join a party where every other character was 8th level.

"So I rage as a bonus action, then I can attack people and I take half damage?" Kirishima asked.

"Yup! The only way you take full damage is against psychic attacks," Sero verified.

Suddenly, there was another knock on the door. "Come in," Tokoyami yelled. This time, it was Shoji who entered.

"Hey, Shoji!" Sero said, waving happily.

A mouth formed at the end of one of Shoji's long, muscular arms. "Good to see you, Sero and company. How's your summer break going?"

Kirishima and Ashido smiled at their classmate. "Good! And you?"

"Well, it's been nice and quiet, especially after the drama from the expo," Shoji commented.

"So what kind of character do you play?" Ashido asked.

"I play a ranger named Redlance. Midoriya's a paladin - Aroree - and Jiro plays a cleric named Vaya." Shoji sat himself down at the far end of the table from Tokoyami.

Kirishima raised an eyebrow. "Hang on - Sero, what do you play?"

With a mysterious grin, Sero chuckled. "I play a warlock. His name is Rayek."

"Okay, I'm betting if I knew what the hell a 'warlock' was, I'd be shaking in my boots," Kirishima said, turning to look at his character sheet again. "I don't know Sero, this seems like a lot to remember."

"That's why you write it down," Tokoyami reassured. "Really, any of us can help you once we actually start the session."

Midoriya was the next to arrive, bringing a bowl of candy with her. "If Kirishima's not a barbarian, I'm rewriting his character right now," she commented.

Finally, Jiro arrived to take the final seat around the table, grim look of frustration on her face. "Hey guys," she grumbled, dropping her Player's Handbook, notebook, and set of dice on the table in front of her angrily. She pulled a pencil out of her pocket and laid that down beside the rest of her things.

The rest of the table was paralyzed in silence, unsure of how to react to Jiro's apparent frustration.

After a few seconds, Tokoyami realized he had to speak up. He hoped his social naivety would give him the cover of plausible deniability if she became upset with him. "Did… did something happen?"

Jiro grunted. "Yaomomo's parents are being awful," she said quietly.

Midoriya, who was sitting beside Jiro, furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"

"The Yaoyorozus are holding this big fundraising event, right? And Yaomomo asked her parents if I could go as her friend, and they won't let me attend unless both of us bring boyfriends," Jiro explained, running her face through her hands.

"Wait - back up a second," Kirishima said. "She asked you to go as her friend, but both of you need to have… that doesn't make any sense."

"Kirishima, can you go with me? It's next month, and I really want to go, and I don't know how I'm going to get a date." Jiro looked up at Kirishima with pleading eyes.

From Tokoyami's place at the head of the table, Kirishima looked pretty taken aback. He wasn't privy to what Kirishima was thinking, but he had a bit of a theory - Tokoyami's "gaydar" was fairly accurate, and he was almost positive that Kirishima wasn't interested in going on a date with a girl, even if it was just as friends.

"Jiro, I don't know," Kirishima started. Tokoyami could see him fidgeting a little in his seat. Yeah, it was clear he wasn't just uninterested. Maybe he had a crush on a guy, and he didn't even want to give off the impression that he was straight.

Tokoyami locked eyes with Shoji across the table, who raised an eyebrow. Tokoyami shrugged in response.

Suddenly, Ashido spoke up. "Jiro, why don't you ask Kaminari to go with you?"

A mixture of confused, terrified looks assaulted her as she made her suggestion. "What? He owes you for being awful, and… well, I know he feels bad about it, and the entire time you can ignore him and just hang out with Yaomomo and you won't have to worry about hurting his feelings. Even if you do offend him, maybe he deserves it." She averted her eyes, fiddling with her character sheet.

Slowly, heads turned to face Jiro, whose face was unreadable. After a few seconds, her despair faded and she grinned. "That… might just work. Thanks, Ashido."

With faces of determination, all eyes in the room slowly turned to Tokoyami.

"So, where were we?" Jiro asked, leaning forward to rest her chin in her palms.

Tokoyami pulled out his DM screen - a long, foldable piece of cardboard that could keep his information secret from the players. He smirked as Kirishima raised an eyebrow at him.

"Where last we left our heroes…"

* * *

About four hours into the session, Kirishima and Ashido were starting to hit their stride. They were fighting in their fifth and final encounter for the evening, and Tokoyami had not made the battle easy. This was the boss fight, and Midoriya's paladin was knocked out, Kirishima's barbarian had taken several dozen points of damage, and most of the others were injured, low on combat options, and starting to lose hope. They had attempted to ambush a camp of darks elves - or drow - but they were not prepared for the powerful drow fighter who was leading the group.

"Why don't I have to rage again this round?" Kirishima asked, flipping his character sheet over in his hands. Even after four other encounters, he and Ashido still had occasional questions regarding their abilities. "It says it's a bonus action."

"You're already raging from last turn," Sero explained patiently.

Kirishima furrowed his brow. "So it's a continuous thing."

"Wait a second - have you been wasting your bonus action every round to rage?" Jiro asked. "We're dying over here, and you could have been doing extra attacks?"

"Well, that doesn't make any sense, though!" Kirishima complained as Sero groaned beside him. "Why wouldn't it take effort to keep raging?"

"When you use your quirk to make your skin hard, do you have to keep activating it every few seconds?" Shoji asked.

Kirishima shook his head. "No… oh! So it really is like my quirk, huh?"

"Yeah, bud - that's why we picked barbarian for you," Sero said with a laugh.

"I'll have you know I take pride in the fact that I am smarter than you, according to our written exams," Kirishima muttered, eyeing Sero antagonistically.

"Ok, I have a question, too," Ashido began. "You said I can't cast two spells in one turn, right?"

"You can if one is a cantrip and one is a bonus action," Midoriya clarified. "So you can cast a first level spell as your action, and then use Vicious Mockery as your bonus action."

"Great! That was all I needed to know." Ashido beamed across the table at Midoriya.

Tokoyami cleared his throat. "Well, for now, it's Vaya's turn." He addressed Jiro, who took a deep breath.

"Well, Aroree can get back up," she said, reaching towards the figurines in the center of the table. She moved her character so she could reach Midoriya's paladin with a Healing Word spell. Midoriya grunted her appreciation. "Kirishima, how are you doing on health?"

"I'm down to… yup, 18 hit points."

Sero winced, and Jiro nodded. "Yeah, that's not great…" she muttered. "Well, I've used my spell for this round. I move beside Kirishima - sorry, I forgot your guy's name again - and swing for the fighter."

"His name is Treestump," Kirishima reminded Jiro.

"Ah, that's right. I move beside Treestump and swing at the big guy." She rolled her twenty-sided die with vigor, rolling a natural 17. "Will a 23 hit?" she asked. Kirishima had been attacking the guy for a little while now, and Tokoyami had already said that anything above a 20 would definitely hit, but he knew Jiro always asked for confirmation when she rolled to hit.

"Yup," Tokoyami verified. "Roll for damage."

"I'll Divine Strike to add a d8 to my damage, so that'll be…" she rolled a few dice to land beside her d20, adding up the total in her head. "8 points of bludgeoning damage and 5 points of thunder damage."

"Not bad," Tokoyami replied, marking down the damage. "He's looking really beat up by now."

At this point, it was time for one of the two remaining drow to take his turn. He wasn't the boss that Jiro had attacked, but he rushed to the defense of his superior, taking a wild swing that landed a solid blow to Vaya.

"Go ahead and take 12 points of slashing damage," Tokoyami told Jiro.

"Ouch… well, I'm thunderously rebuking that son of a bitch, so he can make a quick dex save."

Tokoyami rolled behind the screen, wincing as his d20 came up with a natural 1 - an automatic failure. "Crit fail," he informed the group. "Do your worst."

Jiro smiled, borrowing Midoriya's d8 so she could roll two at the same time. The roll came up as a 6 and an 8.

"Big rolls!" Sero shouted, pumping a fist in the air. The others expressed similar contentment.

"Take 14 points of thunder damage and get pushed back 10 feet please," Jiro said, leaning back with a shit-eating grin.

"Well, his corpse is certainly going to fly back 10 feet. Nice job," Tokoyami replied, plucking the miniature off the table quickly.

"Man, Jiro, that is so cool!" Kirishima praised. "I wish I could do something like that."

"Barbarians are pretty straightforward," Jiro said, shrugging her shoulders. "But you're meant to take a lot of damage and not complain about it."

Tokoyami turned to Ashido. "There's only one drow left. Ashido - what is the plan for Pike? Keep in mind that the final drow's turn is right after your's."

Ashido pushed herself out of her chair. "Ok, so can I reach him and hit him with my sword?" she asked.

"Rapier," Sero corrected. "And yes, you can do that, if you want."

"Ok!" Ashido moved her figure to stand beside Jiro's.

Shoji leaned forward a little, reaching out to grab Ashido's character. "Might I suggest you move her here, instead?" he asked. "That way she's flanking with Treestump."

"Does that help?" Ashido asked.

Shoji nodded. "You get advantage on the attack roll."

Ashido paused. "And advantage means…"

"Roll twice, take the higher total," Midoriya clarified.

With a curt nod, Ashido rolled her d20. Tokoyami kept his eyes glued to the die - any hit and this enemy would go down.

"A 9. That's not great," Ashido said quietly. "Does a 15 hit?"

Tokoyami shook his head. "One more time," he told her.

She took the die back in her hand and rolled. The result was slightly better - but Tokoyami could already tell it was slightly short of hitting this opponent's armor class.

"What about an 18?" Ashido asked.

"Sadly, that is just short. Is there anything else you'd like to do with your turn?"

Ashido shrugged. "Well, I'll tell him that his mom's fat," she said simply.

"Ah, yes - Vicious Mockery." Tokoyami nodded his approval. He looked down at the 2 hit points remaining on this villain, knowing that a failed constitution saving throw could be the difference between winning this fight and potentially letting this guy kill one of their characters. He got a few attacks on his turn, and both Kirishima and Jiro were standing right in front of him, looking quite fragile.

He picked up his d20, rolling it around in his hand. When he released the die and let it fall to the table, he could see the die flash over the 20 before landing on the 2 instead. The drow fighter had a reasonable constitution, but there was no way it would be enough to pass Ashido's spell save DC.

"That's a total of 10," he said. "And this guy is proficient in constitution saving throws."

"Yay!" she said. "So I roll a d4 - the triangle one, right?" She had never used the Vicious Mockery cantrip before. Or at least, she had not yet succeeded.

Tokoyami nodded.

She picked up the little tetrahedron and quickly rolled. "That's 3. He takes 3 points of psychic damage."

Tokoyami smiled to himself. "Well, that really got to him," he said. "Apparently, he's far too upset that you called his mama fat."

With a swift motion, Tokoyami swiped the final drow off the board. "And with that, let's end the session."


	16. Chapter 16

AN: Hello there! I apologize - this chapter is both long and rushed, so that's kind of a bad thing. This chapter might have actually ended up even longer than this if I had worked on it for a little longer. A big event-type-thing kind of popped up at the last minute and I had to deal with that. Excuses, excuses.

Anyway, Shoji is not, like, one of my favorite characters, but he's fairly cool nonetheless. I don't know if he's had any more love in the manga yet, but I like the idea that under his calm, mostly collected exterior, he secretly gets super frustrated about things and he listens in on random conversations to tests himself.

Anyway, have a nice weekend! You're amazing, and thanks for reading!

* * *

Chapter 16: What Kind of Friend

The world Shoji lived in was one of constant observations. Even when he shaped the ends of his arms into hands, he was a quiet guy - people tended to talk as though he wasn't there, even when he clearly was. It was as though they figured he didn't care, which was quite often true.

However, there were times when he'd walk down the street with his incredibly visible quirk on display, and he'd see the strange looks he got and he'd hear the curious children ask about him. He was pretty used to it, though from time to time he wondered why his quirk was considered so strange in a world where everyone was bizarre.

During Tokoyami's D&D sessions, Shoji purposefully positioned himself at the far end of the table so he couldn't see anything behind the screen. Tokoyami was pretty clearly unhappy with Shoji's decision, given how often he brought it up when the two spoke outside of the sessions.

"You know, no one is going to care if you sit next to me," Tokoyami would say. "See, this is why no one knows we're dating."

Shoji rolled an eye behind his back, but he ran one of several hands through Tokoyami's feathered head. "We can tell people if you want. And you know that's not why I sit across from you."

Tokoyami would always finish this conversation with some sort of pouting face, which looked rather strange for a pout. He had no lower lip to sick out, and his beak fit together in such a specific way that any jaw movement would keep him from being able to shut his beak properly. His pout included crossed arms, a furrowed brow, and offset beak with open mouth.

But Shoji could always get him to stop pouting with a warm, six-armed hug. The two had been dating since the beginning of the semester; Shoji was pretty sure that Tokoyami would be incredibly upset if he accidentally saw a big reveal in the campaign ahead of schedule.

The two rarely showed public displays of affection, but on the long bus ride to the training camp, they decided to sit next to one another. Tokoyami took the window seat, but he leaned against Shoji for a significant portion of the ride so he could sleep. Shoji draped a single arm around his small boyfriend, covering him almost entirely. With the arms on his other side, he was busy reading a book.

"Okay, class, we'll be taking a break here," Aizawa sensei informed the group as they rolled to a stop. "Everyone, please leave the bus."

Gently, Shoji shook Tokoyami awake.

"Hm… are we there yet?" Tokoyami asked sleepily.

"Nope. But Aizawa said we have to get off. We're taking a break." Shoji helped Tokoyami get up. "Is Dark Shadow still asleep?"

Tokoyami nodded. "I wish he'd wake up whenever I did."

"And go to sleep when you do, too," Shoji added. More than once, Tokoyami had drifted off next to Shoji, leaving the boy to make awkward conversation with Dark Shadow. He was pretty reasonable most of the time, but when Tokoyami was asleep, Dark Shadow sounded like he was a child who had been kept up far past his bedtime.

As soon as they got off the bus, Tokoyami shook his head a few times. "Wake up, you crazy beast," Shoji heard him mutter to himself.

Shoji looked around at their surroundings. They were parked on a small cliff. Back further from the cliff was the road, and beneath them was a dense forest.

"Class, gather around. We stopped so I could introduce you to a few of our helping mentors for this camp. Please, meet Mandalay and Pixis-Bob," Aizawa sensei said. Shoji instinctively morphed a few extra eyes so he wouldn't have to turn his head to see the pros that flanked Aizawa sensei on either side.

After brief introductions, it appeared as though Dark Shadow was finally waking up. "Ugh. Are we… there yet?" Dark Shadow asked, rubbing his silhouetted eyes.

"Nope. We had to make a stop," Tokoyami said patiently, keeping his voice low so that he would have to interrupt the pros.

"Anyway - you all should make it to camp within a few hours. If you don't make it in time for lunch, you won't get any," Pixie-Bob said cheerfully.

Shoji's attention snapped to the baby-blue colored pro, who was smiling brightly to the class. Suddenly, the ground began to rumble and shake.

"Get back on the bus!" Sero shouted from somewhere to Shoji's left, but there was no time to react before the earth beneath them erupted violently. Shoji should have heard or felt some sort of warning for an earthquake of this magnitude, so he figured it was one of the pros' quirks.

The ground moved as though in waves, and Shoji grunted in frustration as his vision was obscured. It was rare that he found himself blind, and he couldn't see Tokoyami.

* * *

It had taken them hours to find the camp, by which point they were all exhausted. The next day, they were woken at the crack of dawn and informed of their individual training regimens. Shoji was instructed to search high and low for Hagakure, who would be sneaking around the campsite.

Hours passed, and he was able to pinpoint her several times. It was usually when she tripped over something or lost focus for whatever reason. One time, Shoji was pretty sure she fell asleep, though she assured him with a yawn that she was fine.

He tried very hard not to think about how Tokoyami was doing. Occasionally, he could pick out angry shouts between Tokoyami and Dark Shadow as they battled for control in one of the darkened caves on the cliffside.

By the end of the second day, he was ready to collapse and sleep for as long as he was able. He was frustrated by how easily Hagakure could slip out of his awareness - he couldn't see her directly, so he was forced to look at the tracks she left in the ground. When she stood still or moved very slowly, he couldn't hear her at all, even with half a dozen extra ears to aid him. There was no way to smell or taste her, either. He was frustrated and his brain was fried from all the focus he had poured into searching for such an elusive opponent.

"How was your day?" he asked Tokoyami as they helped cook dinner. He did his best not to sound angry, but he wasn't sure that he was successful.

"Not… great," Tokoyami replied. "You sound pretty upset, Mezo. Is everything alright?"

Shoji let out a sigh through his real mouth, and the fabric of his mask expanded a little at the sudden rush of air. "I'm fine. I don't mean to make you worry." He spoke out of a mouth on one of his free arms. "I'm frustrated, I guess. I don't like feeling…"

"Blind?" Tokoyami asked, reaching out to grab another free hand. "I don't blame you. You always get to see what's going on, so having to find an invisible enemy must be taxing for you."

Shoji squeezed Tokoyami's hand. "That test of courage is supposed to be tonight," he said quietly. "I'd rather not do it."

"I would also rather stay inside," Tokoyami said quietly. He knew Shoji could hear his muttering without him needing to speak up. "Dark Shadow is quite angry with me at the moment, and I would rather not walk around with him in the dark while people try to scare me." He paused. "Revelry in the dark."

"We could ask to not participate," Shoji suggested. He was pretty sure they would be chided for such a decision, but he was willing to take that chance. An evening of relaxation with Tokoyami sounded much better than some arbitrary test of courage.

Tokoyami smiled a little as they continued to work on the food preparation.

Shoji was still fairly stressed from the long day, so he put his quirk to a simpler test: who was currently having the most interesting conversation?

Of course, his attention was immediately drawn a few tables down at the sound of his own name. "Shoji is so observant! I was really trying hard to stay out of his sight, but he found me so many times," Hagakure was telling Ojiro. "It's just frustrating, you know?"

Shoji shook his head. Something more interesting was bound to be afoot.

"Okay, but the extra classes were so long - we were up until 2 in the morning!" Sato complained. Shoji could even hear the granules of sugar that Sato poured from a little container to coat a piece of carrot. Not a traditional choice, sure, but Sato had to consume more sugar somehow.

Moving along, Shoji's focus landed on Midoriya. Her conversations often included something funny or entertaining. She would occasionally talk to herself as well - and if nothing else, listening to the quiet muttering was a good way for Shoji to practice without frustrating himself.

"Well, I think there can always be justification for breaking the rules," Midoriya was saying. "When you know someone could be in danger, sometimes you have to disobey orders to save them, for example."

It took a second for Shoji to figure out who she was talking to without looking. However, Kirishima's gruff voice seemed to respond to Midoriya's words. "Yeah, I suppose. I don't know, though - if Aizawa sensei tells me to stay put, then that's what I'm doing."

"That's fair. But if your instinct tells you that you can save someone, you have to try, right?" Midoriya replied. "I mean, that's the crazy thing about me, I guess. I always try to fix the things I can't control, even if it puts me in danger."

"Heh. It's what makes you a good hero, Midoriya," Kirishima said.

Shoji figured that was interesting enough. Midoriya advocating disobedience, Kirishima telling Midoriya to listen to authority… what a role reversal.

Anyway, listening to them calmed him down, and that was really all he needed.

* * *

At first, Shoji was excited to have randomly been paired up with Tokoyami for the test of courage, but that happiness was cut short as they reached the midway point. Ragdoll was nowhere to be found, which was ominous on its own.

As they continued, Shoji kept an extra eye and ear out for students from class 1-B who might have been lurking in the shadows, but there hadn't been any jump scares in a suspiciously long time.

When Shoji smelled smoke, it distracted him just long enough that he was caught off guard by a villain who attacked with violently sharp teeth that protruded from his mouth angrily. Shoji barely got a duplicated hand up in time to protect him from serious injury, but the villain easily lopped off Shoji's hand.

Shoji was immediately sent into a quick state of shock, but he pushed it aside when he saw how angry Tokoyami was. Dark Shadow fully took over his body as he screamed Shoji's name.

"Fumikage, I'm okay!" Shoji shouted. Their attacker had retreated at the sight of Tokoyami's full power, and Shoji did the same. He dove behind a shrub as Dark Shadow uprooted a tree.

For a few minutes, Shoji evaded Dark Shadow's swinging arms. Every now and then, he'd hear a scream of anguish from Tokoyami.

"Get away, Mezo! Don't let me hurt you!" he cried, and tears threatened to form in Shoji's eyes as he swallowed on the lump growing in his throat. He had never seen Dark Shadow this powerful - the lack of light and abundance of stress had clearly set him off somehow.

"Students - we think the villains are after one of you: Kacchan." A voice boomed inside Shoji's head. It was Mandalay. "Kacchan, if you hear this, stay in a group and stay protected. Also, Aizawa has said you are all allowed to defend yourselves using your quirks. Get back to camp as quickly as you can!"

"Shoji? Shoji!" At the faint sound of his name, Shoji turned an extended ear to the source. It sounded like Midoriya, and she was approaching him quickly.

"I'm here," he called out, running to get behind another tree as Dark Shadow destroyed the one he'd previously used to hide.

She found him within a few seconds, and they nearly bumped into one another. The green energy that surrounded Midoriya whenever she used her enhanced speed faded as she came to a halt. "What happened here?" she asked quietly.

"I got injured, and Fumi- Tokoyami reacted strongly. Are you alright?" Shoji looked Midoriya up and down, as a little blood was dripping down her face."

Midoriya turned to face Dark Shadow. "I'm fine, but… wow."

"Now's not the time for analysis. I need to help him, and I know you are going to want to help Bakugou, right? He's the one they're after." Shoji waved Midoriya off. "Go save him."

"Maybe we can help them both," Midoriya suggested. "Get him to follow us, okay? We have to get back closer to the camp."

Shoji furrowed his brow, but he was well aware that this was a poor time to argue. Midoriya was tactically apt, after all, and Shoji trusted her. Quickly, he extended several of his arms to his sides and made loud noises to attract Dark Shadow's attention. "Let's go," he told Midoriya, and the two took off in the direction of the training camp.

As they ran, Shoji was not devoting his limbs to perception. When the villain with the sharp teeth returned, he caught Shoji completely by surprise, as did the wall of ice that kept him and Midoriya from running any further.

"Hang on-" Midoriya said, grunting a little as she launched herself into the air. She broke through the wall of ice easily. "Careful, Todoroki!" she yelled as she emerged on the other side.

"Sorry about that, Midoriya," the level-headed boy replied. "Bakugou's here, in case you were curious."

Shoji followed Midoriya through the broken hole in the ice to see an angry Bakugou, who looked very much like he did not want to be protected from any sort of villainous plan.

"Where is the villain?" Shoji asked. He was intent on making the villain pay for causing Tokoyami pain. Bakugou pointed above the wall of ice, where the villain was supporting himself by the teeth.

Suddenly, he was whipped out of the air by a long silhouette. From behind the security of the broken wall of ice, Shoji couldn't see what was happening, but the screams were bloodcurdling.

"We've got this, Shoji," Todoroki commented quietly as he took off past the wall of ice. Bakugou followed, clearly sensing Todoroki's plan to incapacitate Dark Shadow.

It took every ounce of willpower Shoji had left not to fall to his knees in frustration, gripping his head in his hands. He couldn't protect Tokoyami. His six arms were not enough to save his boyfriend.

* * *

The following events took some effort for Shoji to comprehend - he had so little brain power left to process what was happening. After Tokoyami calmed down, his exhausted form had all but collapsed into Shoji's arms after approaching him.

"Did I kill anyone?" he'd asked. Shoji shook his head no as he completely wrapped all six arms around Tokoyami so his whole head and torso were covered.

The group of five had taken off towards the camp shortly thereafter, but Shoji had been so focused on listening for problems ahead of them that he hadn't noticed when the second villain had taken Tokoyami and Bakugou out from the back of the group.

"Uraraka and Asui are up ahead - and they're fighting someone," Shoji informed the group as they ran.

Sure enough, they burst into a small clearing, where the two girls were engaged in combat with a truly psychopathic-looking opponent.

"Oh, you have more friends?" she asked. Her aesthetic was that of a child's creepy doll. "Well, I don't want to die today, so I'll just have to catch up with you later." With that, she had run off.

Uraraka had been the one to tell them that Bakugou and Tokoyami were gone, and Shoji's heart immediately sank into the ground. What kind of boyfriend - what kind of friend - was he if he couldn't save Tokoyami from pros who threw them off cliffs? From villains who absorbed him into a tiny, blue orb? From his own quirk?

The chase that ensued was powered by adrenaline and whatever remaining strength Shoji could muster. He was thrown through the air, carrying Midoriya and Todoroki along with him. This was all at her urging, all following some plan that Midoriya had concocted in the spur of the moment. Shoji didn't care, as long as he got Tokoyami back.

When they caught the villain, it was in the clearing where they had started the test of courage. Shoji managed to grab the orbs out of his pocket, and he stood triumphantly with them in his grasp.

"Ah yes - misdirection," the villain cooed. "Surprise - when a magician shows you something, it's usually because he doesn't want you looking somewhere else." The villain lifted his tongue to reveal two more blue orbs sitting in the bottom of his mouth.

Shoji's eyesight was good enough to see Tokoyami's tiny form, curled up in one of the orbs.

His heart stopped beating for a moment and time seemed to stop. All he wanted was for Tokoyami to be free.

A brilliant beam of light arched through the dark, night air, landing a solid hit on the trickster villain from behind. Out of habit, one of Shoji's hands morphed into an eye to see that the source of the beam was Aoyama.

Shoji propelled himself forward and snatched the little orb with Tokoyami's form out of the air. With both eyes in his head focused on making sure he really had the proper orb this time, his additional eye checked on Bakugou's situation.

Another villain had grabbed him, as Midoriya and Todoroki had come up a little short.

"Todoroki Shoto. What a pleasure," the villain drawled. Shoji looked at him, involuntarily disturbed by his charred scars and stitched up face. "Too bad you couldn't save your friend."

Shoji's eye widened as he saw Kirishima come up behind the villain, giving him an angry smack to the back of the head. There was an audible cracking sound as he made contact; his hardened skin was more than enough to cause the villain massive pain.

"Ungh!" the villain cried, releasing Bakugou. Kirishima grabbed the orb out of the air as Midoriya kicked the villain in the chest, sending him flying backwards.

"Dabi - retreat!" the trickster had called to the scarred man, who scowled angrily.

"We can still finish the mission!" he hissed.

The trickster's mask hid his expression, but Shoji could see his cheeks bunch up from behind the mask as he grinned. "We've done plenty already."

With that, they disappeared into a swirl of purple mist, leaving both Tokoyami and Bakugou to their fellow classmates.


	17. Chapter 17

AN: Hello, there! So, I had an idea for Ragdoll's rescue mission that would have made this chapter WAY too long, so I decided to leave that idea for another day. For now, this chapter will have to suffice.

Have a great day, and thanks for reading! You're awesome.

* * *

Chapter 17: I Will Not Stand By

"Kan - do you have all your students?" Aizawa asked as he jogged over to his coworker, Kan Sekijiro, who looked even more angered than usual.

"Yes. What about you?"

Aizawa shook his head. "I counted 10 of mine back at the camp, and I can only see seven others out here," he said, gesturing to the group recovering in the clearing where they had begun the test of courage only an hour before. "That means I'm missing two students. Mandalay is knocked out, Tiger and Pixie-Bob are with the students inside. I haven't heard from Ragdoll."

Kan furrowed his brow. "Neither have I. For now, what do we do?"

"Call the police. We should go home," Aizawa replied. "I'll keep watch on these students and help Mandalay. As soon as I can get them stable, I'll look for the other two."

"Who's missing?" Kan asked.

Aizawa inhaled deeply. "Uraraka and Asui. They were in the middle of their test of courage, and they haven't made it back yet." Though he didn't have the time or energy to express it, Aizawa could feel the building fear inside his chest.

As though sensing Aizawa's feeling of unease, Kan did not press the matter further. "I'll go inside and make sure everyone gets packed up. I'll let you know when we're ready to leave."

"Thank you." Aizawa said simply.

Kan was about to leave, but he stopped and turned back. "Not for nothing, Aizawa - but your students refuse to listen to authority. It worked out this time, but that red-headed boy…" He motioned to Kirishima, who was kneeling over Bakugou's unconscious form. "He would not stay in the room. He was going on about his instincts and justification for disobedience. I don't think he entirely knew what he was saying, but he was intent on saving his friend."

Aizawa looked out at the small group, sighing in overwhelmed exasperation. What was it with this class?

"I'll speak with him, but now's not the time, Kan. I'll get these students moving as soon as I can."

Kan nodded to Aizawa and took off towards the main camp. Aizawa turned to the members of class 1-A who were gathered on the ground in front of him. Kirishima and Midoriya were trying to coax a sleeping Bakugou awake, while Shoji had picked up Tokoyami's stirring form. Todoroki was a little ways off, steadying a shaken Aoyama.

"Have any of you seen Uraraka or Asui?" Aizawa asked urgently as he jogged over to Midoriya and Kirishima. Bakugou had yet to regain consciousness.

Midoriya nodded. "They should be getting back here soon," she remarked. Aizawa could see that she was actually consoling Kirishima, rather than trying to wake Bakugou herself. Kirishima was on the verge of tears himself, speaking softly to Bakugou as he shook his shoulder gently.

Aizawa bent down to check Bakugou's vitals - he had a steady pulse and was taking consistent breaths, which would have to do. "The two of you can carry him together, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

Standing up, Aizawa turned to address Shoji and Todoroki. "Can you two handle Tokoyami and Aoyama?"

The two nodded in tandem, ever simplistic and reserved.

With haste, Aizawa approached Mandalay, who had suffered a pretty nasty blow to the head. Fortunately, while the wound was bleeding quite a bit, the cut was not too deep. He pulled out a cloth from his belt and covered the injury.

"I can take Mandalay, sensei," Midoriya offered. "Kirishima can carry Bakugou without a problem, and that would let you go to find Uraraka and Tsuyu."

Aizawa raised an eyebrow at Kirishima, who wiped a tear from his cheek as he nodded in agreement. "I can carry him, Aizawa sensei."

Aizawa took a deep breath. "Get back to camp, all of you, and don't let one another out of your sight!" With that, he took off into the woods in search of Uraraka and Asui.

His panting grew labored as he sprinted through the woods looking for signs of trouble. There had to be a better way to search for his students, but he didn't have a quirk that was particularly useful when searching for people.

"Sensei! Aizawa sensei!" he heard. He halted at the sound of Uraraka's strained voice. He turned to his left, making out two figured running towards him from the shadows. It was easy to tell Uraraka's bouncy hair as she came into view, and Asui's small form followed close behind. In fact, Aizawa could see they were holding hands as they ran through the forest.

"Uraraka! Asui!" he called as they approached. "Are you alright?"

Uraraka nodded as the two reached him. "Tsuyu got cut on the tongue-"

"Ochako was stabbed by one of the-"

"Is everyone else okay-"

"What happened, Aizawa sensei?"

Aizawa shushed them and flashed a relieved smile. "You two were the only students I hadn't found yet," he said. "By chance, have you two seen Ragdoll?"

Uraraka shook her head, sniffling a little as the buzz of adrenaline continued to push her. "We didn't even make it to the mid-way point," she said.

"That's alright. Let's get back to the campsite." Aizawa tried not to let the pit in his stomach grow. Ragdoll would turn up eventually.

Tsuyu hunched her shoulders forward. "Is Ragdoll…"

"Don't worry about it, Asui," Aizawa reassured. "She's quite capable. I'm sure she's fine." He wished there was some way to convince himself of that, and it was pretty clear from the look of concern on Asui's face that he hadn't convinced her either.

The three travelled back to the camp in silence. Aizawa never let the pair out of his sight.

* * *

In the coming days, Aizawa was stuck in a nightmare, both bureaucratic and media-driven in nature. He was forced to fill out police reports and additional paperwork detailing the events of the situation. He was also questioned by police, along with most of the students.

That was nothing, however, compared to the interviews, where a group of journalists would do their best to find who to blame, accusing Aizawa, Kan, and Principle Nezu of negligence. In extreme cases, the three were accused of traitorous actions.

"If you didn't tell the villains where the camp would be held - information that only a select group of people had access to - then who did give away your position?" a reporter had asked him at the most recent press conference.

"I can assure you, there is no need to question the loyalty of the teachers beside me," Nezu had said, keeping Aizawa from responding to the question at all. "I know that Aizawa is devoted to his students, as well as Kan. I will not stand by while you attack the character of my esteemed colleagues."

"And where were you 'standing' while the children from your school were attacked? Were you standing by then?"

"As I previously stated, communication during the hour of the attack was limited, but I was updated as soon as Kan and Aizawa knew the villains had arrived, and I was called again when the villains retreated."

Aizawa hated interviews with a burning passion, and that was when the press had nothing to attack the school with - after the training camp, there was plenty to complain about.

Beyond the interviews and paperwork, Aizawa struggled in staff meetings to keep his eyes open, and he was constantly asking for information on the wellbeing of his students. Bakugou and Tokoyami recovered quickly, but Yaoyorozu, Jiro, Hagakure, and several others were hospitalized for multiple days.

Yaoyoraozu had informed the police that she had planted a tracking device on one of the Nomu with the help of Awase, from class 1-B. With the help of the police, the pros managed to track down the location of the warehouse where the Nomu were kept. Tsukauchi, who was All Might's connection to the police, found another potential base of operations for the league of villains.

Aizawa was not included in the planning for the assault on the two bases, so he had no say in the tactic they decided to employ. To retrieve Ragdoll, who they determined was, indeed, alive, a small, elite team of stealth heroes infiltrated the base.

Within a week of the attack, the pros got Ragdoll back and put her in a hospital. Aizawa was told she no longer had her quirk.


	18. Chapter 18

AN: Hello there! It's late, I'm tired, and here's a chapter that I had hoped would bee about 500 words. I'm not entirely sure why it ended up being so long, but here I am at 2:30 in the morning, thinking about how I was supposed to update these chapters before midnight. Oh well. Here's Koda, being quiet and also absolutely listening for spilled tea.

Thanks for reading!

* * *

Chapter 18: Sometimes, It Brightens Her Day

It took three days for Jiro and Hagakure to awaken after the attack, making them the final two in class 1-A to remain hospitalized. The few students from class 1-B who had been incapacitated with the gas regained consciousness at around the same time.

In the days after Ragdoll's rescue mission, the buzz around U.A. was finally starting to die down, and the school returned to business as usual. Dorms were built so as to house the students on campus - it was deemed that this would be safer than having the students commute to school every day when the league of villains was still on the rise.

The day when all the students moved into the new dorms was rather exciting, in Koda's opinion. He was placed on the third floor, along with Kaminari and Iida on the men's side. Directly across from him on the women's half of the floor was Jiro, and Hagakure was down the hall from there.

Koda couldn't believe his luck, getting a room so close to Jiro. Ever since the finals, where he and Jiro had defeated Present Mic, Koda had manifested a crush on her. It had very little to do with reason, just how kind she had been to him and that wonderful smile she had given him as they ran through the exit gate.

The day after moving in, the students went back to training. With the training camp cut short, the students started to work on special moves for the license exams in the training facilities on campus. Koda applied for some improvements to his costume - clearly, amplifying his voice was one of the most important modifications he could make.

From time to time, as the summer went on, Koda would leave little flowers on Jiro's windowsill. He'd ask a little bird to flutter up to the window with it, and he'd leave before she noticed it. There was no need for her to know it was him, as he'd never act on this crush. There was no way she liked him, especially with the rumors going around about her and Yaoyorozu.

"Kaminari, are you doing this?" he overheard Jiro ask one day. She was about to leave the common area of the dorm when Kaminari had walked in. "How in the world do you get flowers to land on my windowsill?"

Kaminari's voice had faultered. "Ky - Jiro, I don't know what you're talking about."

Koda had done his best not to look intrigued in their conversation. Given how quiet he was, he hoped his eavesdropping wasn't too conspicuous as he fed the small rabbit sitting in his lap.

"Whatever. If it is you, it's sweet."

Koda blushed. She thought it was sweet. Therefore, he decided, it was worth it to continue.

* * *

The next day, she tucked the flower behind her ear and wore it all day, even through her training. Koda could see she was being very careful not to crush it.

* * *

The day after that, Koda could tell she was upset. Usually, he could hear not-so-subtle music filling the hallway by her room in the morning, but as he left his room, the hallways were silent.

During training, she was on edge, as though she was angry about something unrelated. She was unfocused and frustrated at every turn. Her accuracy was off, and she was simply using brute force to destroy rocks and blast Ectoplasm's clones, rather than trying to work on the finesse she had previously decided to use.

"Ugh! What the hell?" she grunted, looking down at the amplifiers on her gloves. "Why won't these just get louder?"

"Jiro, is everything okay?" It was Yaoyorozu, who had apparently noticed Jiro's anger as well.

"I don't know. Why don't you ask your parents?" Jiro spat. "Just leave me alone."

Koda wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean, but at lunch, he picked a beautiful rose from the bushes outside, which he asked a mouse to leave by her feet. When she saw it, Koda could see her smile and pick it up, leaving her frustration behind for a moment.

* * *

Two nights later, the stress was beginning to take its toll on the class. Kaminari suggested another party to liven things up, and most of the class agreed this would probably decrease more stress than it would cause.

"I won't go, if you guys think I'll screw something up again," Kaminari offered with a surprisingly good natured laugh.

"You're invited to your own party, Kami," Kirishima replied. "We can do it the night before the exam!"

"Yeah, that sounds like an awful idea," Bakugou said bluntly.

Midoriya scratched the back of her neck. "I agree with Kacchan. Maybe two nights before? Just to make sure we can all get a good night's sleep before the exam?"

Kirishima nodded. "It's settled, then!"

"Hold on - I can't go, then!" Yaoyorozu complained. "My parents are… having a thing that night."

"Right! And I will be attending that event as well," Iida added.

"As will I," Jiro said. "Is there anyway we could do it the night before?" she asked.

The room fell into a bit of silence. "The timing doesn't work as well that way," Midoriya said softly.

That night, Koda left another flower on Jiro's windowsill. He wasn't sure that she was upset about missing the party, but he figured he'd try to cheer her up just in case.

* * *

The day of the party, training ended early. Aizawa sensei was worried about overworking the students, so he told them to take it easy that night and the following day. The last thing they needed was to be sore going into the exams.

Koda was hanging out in his room, listening to the music in the hallway from behind the relatively thin walls. Suddenly, the music stopped, and he heard footsteps pass his door. That was a strange sound, given his placement on the floor - the only time someone would need to pass Koda's door was if Kaminari was walking over to talk to Jiro or if she wanted to talk to Kaminari.

There was a knock, barely audible from Koda's room. It was Jiro, then, going to speak with Kaminari.

"Oh! Hey, Jiro! What's up?" Koda could hear Kaminari's somewhat confused voice.

Jiro spoke too quietly for Koda to hear, but his curiosity got the better of him. He got up from his desk chair and moved to leave the room. He could walk past the pair slowly on his way to the stairs, at which point he would go to the kitchen and make himself something to eat.

"Why are you asking me?" Kaminari asked as Koda opened his door. "I… well, I kind of thought you wouldn't."

"How did you know I needed to ask anyone at all?" Jiro hissed. She was still trying to keep her voice down.

"Kirishima and Ashido told me! Look, I wasn't going to say anything, but if you need cover, of course I'll go with you to the thing, okay?" At the sight of Koda, Kaminari switched to a hushed voice as well.

Koda, in turn, decided that it was a much better idea to walk past them quickly. This really wasn't any of his business, anyway.

Jiro sighed. "Well, yeah. That would be… really helpful."

Kaminari gave her a smile.

After a slight pause, Koda could hear Jiro ask, "So you're really not the one doing the thing with the flowers?"

As soon as Koda vanished down the stairs, he sprinted outside. He picked a few daisies and another rose, and he had a whole fleet of birds bring the bouquet up to Jiro's windowsill.

"Why do you do that?" A voice from behind Koda startled him, and he whipped around to see Bakugou, eyeing him with a glare of suspicion. "If you like her so much, go talk to her."

Koda shook his head violently.

"I know you can talk. Why do you leave flowers for her to find?" he asked again. "It's a little creepy, to be honest."

Koda took a deep breath, his heart pounding in his chest. "I know she doesn't like me back, you know? So there's no point in telling her. And I don't want to bother her, and it's okay that I'll never get to date her, but…" Koda paused. "Sometimes, it brightens her day. She's stressed, and it makes her smile."

Bakugou's eyes widened a little. "Flowers, huh?" He snorted, grinning a little. "Alright. Whatever."

With that, Bakugou walked back inside, hands stuffed in his pockets. "I guess I'll see you at the party tonight."

Koda stayed outside a little while longer, looking after Bakugou. He wondered if his angry classmate would tell anyone about this, but Koda deemed it was likely that he didn't really care all that much.

He walked back into the dorms, passing Ashido and Hagakure as they prepared streamers and decorations. He walked through the kitchen, snagging a few snacks and maneuvering past Sato as he pulled cookies from the oven. When he finally returned to his room, music was flowing from Jiro's room again.


	19. Chapter 19

AN: Hello there! I've made it through 19 chapters, and I'm still going! Yay!

Thanks for reading, of course. This story is nearly 2/3 of the way through, and here's another party. This one focuses on tape-arms himself. Enjoy, and have a great day!

* * *

Chapter 19: Bring Them To Me

Sero wasn't entirely sure why Bakugou had decided to join the decoration process, but here he was, making the occasional snarky comment to the crew as they tried to spruce up the common room. Sero and Kirishima had raided a few janitorial closets to find some ladders, and the two were hanging multi-colored streamers from the walls and ceiling.

"Why so much yellow?" Bakugou asked, plenty of unnecessary disgust in his voice.

"Hey, I like the color yellow," Kirishima whined.

Bakugou scrunched up his face. "No you don't. You like red."

Sero snorted, and he wasn't the only one who was amused. He gave Ashido a knowing look, and she smiled back at him. He detached a piece of tape from his elbow and used it to secure another yellow streamer to the ceiling.

"I can like multiple colors," Kirishima replied, puffing out his lower lip and averting his eyes away from Bakugou.

"Oh my goodness, Kirishima - if you don't tell Kami, I will." Ashido said with a dramatic sigh.

Sero snickered as he saw Kirishima's cheeks flush nearly as red as his hair. "Oh, Bakugou probably doesn't know, does he?" Sero asked, directing his question at Ashido even though she wouldn't have any way of knowing.

"I bet he doesn't!" she replied eagerly. "So, Bakugou - Kiri's gay, in case you couldn't tell, and he's got a massive crush on Kami."

Kirishima looked personally offended. "I do not! Besides, even if I did, he's straight." His voice got very quiet at the end as he turned back to tape up more streamers.

"Sero said he might be bi," Ashido said, looking up at Sero.

Sero, in turn, remained silent, regretting having mentioned anything to Ashido. She didn't know the whole story, of course, so she couldn't tell them everything… but Bakugou was smart, and he might be able to figure it out anyway. "I said he might be, but I don't know. He hasn't told me anything about it."

This was not technically a lie, so Sero ran with it.

"Wait, hold on a second - I thought Kamiari was dating Jiro," Bakugou said slowly. "I don't know where I heard that, but I heard it somewhere."

Sero, Ashido, and Kirishima all turned to Bakugou with expressions of confusion and shock. "Bro - they broke up, like, months ago," Kirishima explained.

Ashido nodded. "Jiro caught Kami cheating on her," she added.

Bakugou's eyes widened for a split second. "Okay, I'm going to stop you right there. This is already more information than I actually care about." He turned to leave.

"Wait, Bakugou, will you be at the party?" Kirishima called from atop his ladder.

Bakugou scoffed as he left the room. "I guess."

* * *

"Sero, trust me, you just have to go up and talk to her," Kirishima said, brilliant smile illuminating his face.

"She doesn't like me, Kirishima! Just leave it alone." Sero nearly rolled his eyes.

"How do you know that, though?" Kirishima shot back. "Just give it a shot, okay? If it blows up in your face, I'll tell Kaminari the thing."

Sero raised an eyebrow. "So you do like him!" he asserted triumphantly.

"Yes - now go over there and talk to her," Kirishima urged. With that, he shoved a plastic cup full of water in Sero's hand and gave him a nudge in Shiozaki's direction.

Sero approached her cautiously. She was something of a wall flower, and given her quirk, this was not a surprise. He watched her twirl a few strands of her vine-like hair around her finger as she scrolled through her phone.

"Hey, Shiozaki!" Sero called to her as he approached.

She looked up. When her eyes locked with Sero's, she gave a small smile. "Hi there. You're Sero, right?" she asked.

Sero nodded. "I'm glad you were invited - I know we didn't invite everyone from class 1-B, but… well, you know. I'm happy you came." He wasn't entirely sure of what to say to the pretty girl, and he was starting to feel slightly awkward.

"Of course! I'm surprised you invited Monoma, though. At least Itsuka is here to keep an eye on him." Shiozaki frowned in Monoma's general direction. He was currently praising himself with pompous vigor. It was pretty clear he was enjoying himself, but most people were simply trying to ignore him.

"Speaking of Kendo," Sero began, shifting the topic to something he would rather have avoided entirely, "I heard from a friend that you and her…" He made a unifying gesture with his arms.

"Yeah, we dated for a month or so. It didn't really work out." Shiozaki bit her cheek. "So, you know, I'm single again."

"Why didn't it work out? If you don't mind me asking." It was none of his business, of course, but Sero was curious. If Shiozaki was gay, there was no point in him trying to date her.

Shiozaki smiled a little sadly. "Itsuka is a lesbian, and I'm straight. I thought maybe things would change, and I really appreciate and love Itsuka as a friend, but… well, I can't force myself to like someone who I don't like."

"So you broke it off?" Sero finished.

"Actually, no. I didn't mind all the hand-holding and going on dates and kissing. That was all fine, but she knew that one day, she'd want more. And I wasn't going to want more out of our relationship." Shiozaki stared off into the distance. "It's weird, you know? Love is weird."

With a sympathetic nod, Sero looked out across the crowd. "You know, something similar happened to me, believe it or not." He wasn't sure why he was telling her this, but the words came out of his mouth before he could stop them.

Shiozaki turned to him and furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"

"You know Kaminari?" Sero asked, to which Shiozaki narrowed her eyes.

"Yeah. He's been stupidly flirting with me ever since the sports festival," she replied. "Although, come to think of it, he hasn't bothered me in a little while."

Sero gave her a sly smile. "Well, right as class was getting out for the summer, the two of us were hanging out on our own, and we started talking."

Shiozaki's eyes widened. "About?"

"He said he wasn't sure why he didn't like dating. He panicked in his relationship with Jiro, and every argument he had with her would make him scared and insecure. After she broke up with him, he felt happier than when they were dating," Sero explained. He paused for a moment to try to find the right words. "He asked if there was a possibility that he was actually gay, and he just didn't know it. It made me think - what if I'm gay, and I didn't know, either? So we kissed, just to see if anything came of it."

A few flowers had bloomed in Shiozaki's hair as she listened. It was as though she wasn't even aware that she was making them. "So, are you gay?"

Sero shook his head no. "But it was good to figure that out!" he said happily. "And Kaminari and I are still good friends."

"I agree, it's good to know," Shiozaki said. "It's funny how romance can bring people closer together, even if they aren't necessarily attracted to each other."

"Sure, but I think I'd like a romantic relationship with someone I like, too." Sero raised an eyebrow at Shiozaki. It was as subtle a motion as he could make it, and he was trying to gauge her interest.

She blushed, averting her eyes for a second. Sero smiled. "Hey, Shiozaki, you can call me Hanta, if you want."

Shyly, she met his gaze. "You can call me Ibara."

* * *

Only an hour later, Sero had wrapped his arm around Ibara's shoulder, and the two were conversing with Midoriya and Ashido.

"Well, that was quick," Ashido remarked.

"Seriously," Midoriya agreed. "I didn't even know you liked Shiozaki, Sero!"

"Well, Kirishima convinced me to go and talk to her, and it worked out," Sero said with a shrug.

Ashido grinned. "How did he convince you?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips.

Sero shifted his weight. "He said he'd ask out Kaminari if things went poorly for me, just so that we could both get humiliated." He cherished the look on Midoriya's face as her eyes slowly expanded and her mouth hung open.

"Kirishima likes Kaminari?" Her voice was hushed and excited. "I didn't know he got over Kacchan! That's good for him!"

Ashido, who had been taking a big swing of soda, did a full spit take, spraying Diet Coke all over the floor.

"He got over who now!?" she shouted, pivoting to face Midoriya with a pure look of shock.

Sero could feel Ibara's hand under his chin, pushing gently upward. It took a second for Sero to realize that his jaw had fallen wide open.

"Wait - did he not tell you?" Midoriya asked, panic setting in. "I thought - well, if you knew he liked Kaminari, why didn't he tell you about… oh, God, I need to go apologize to him!" she stammered, backing away.

"Woah - Midoriya, it's alright, we won't tell anyone! And we won't bother him about it," Sero said hastily. "There's nothing to worry about." He gave Ashido a pointed look, knowing how fond she was of gossip.

Ashido sighed helplessly. "Yeah, we won't tell anyone, Midoriya."

Midoriya hunched her shoulders, staring down at the ground in shame. "Thanks, both of you. I don't even know how-"

Suddenly, a huge explosion rocked the dorm building. Small fragments from the ceiling crumbled to the floor as the whole front door came crashing down. An alarm blared in response to this intrusion. Gasps rang throughout the common room as a tall man wearing a thick mask and black clothes emerged from the gaping hole in the wall. From his mask, tubes ran down and into his costume.

For a moment, no one knew what to do. Some students were frozen in fear, and others were stilled due to confusion or hesitance. Who was this intruder?

Sero spied the pale man with the blue hands who had attacked the USJ behind the intruder, and plenty of other sinister-looking people just outside the dorm building.

The masked intruder took a deep, seemingly labored breath before speaking. Somehow, his voice seemed amplified, and there was no issue hearing him over the alarm as it continued to ring.

"Bakugou Katsuki and Midoriya Izuku - bring them to me. I will make sure that there is no future for the Symbol of Peace."


	20. Chapter 20

AN: Hi there, and oof - this one's long, isn't it? Just as a clarification, this chapter happens during the party in the last chapter.

Have a nice day! You're awesome, of course, and thanks for your time.

* * *

Chapter 20: Yes - And I'm Still Sorry About That

Given the nature of her quirk, Jiro was always aware of her heartbeat. It was comforting, the way her heart rate would speed up ever so slightly when she inhaled, and it was so satisfying to feel her heart pulse in time with a song she was listening to. When she exercised, her heart pounded loudly in her ears, giving her something to focus on instead of how sore or tired she was. Similarly, when she found herself unable to pay attention in class, focusing on her heartbeat was an effective way to center her mind.

However, there were times when that heartbeat would grow sporadic or uneven. Anytime this happened, Jiro was usually uncomfortable, and often stressed or scared. Such was the case as Jiro approached the Yaoyorozu mansion alongside Kaminari. His presence made her uncomfortable, and she figured he could tell. He was keeping his distance, at least, keeping his speaking to minimum and trying to stay out of her way.

But she was stressed as well, and absolutely terrified of Momo's parents. They were unaware of their daughter's bisexual girlfriend, and appeasing their demand to bring a date was incredibly taxing. "We should probably link arms or something," she suggested flatly. "It's going to look suspicious if we don't even look like we're dating."

Kaminari nodded, gazing up at the mansion with apprehension. They had been dropped off by Jiro's parents, and several other cars were driving up as they stood in front of the massive porch. Small groups of two to four individuals each emerged from rather expensive-looking cars, wearing lavish clothing and sparkling jewelry and bright watches. Almost every couple walked up the front lawn with their arms linked.

Kaminari raised an arm, and Jiro reluctantly linked her arm in his. She sighed, taking a step forward. Her first step pulled Kaminari, but he quickly fell in step beside her. "Look, we need to set up a few ground rules," she said quietly. "Under no circumstances will we kiss, and hand-holding will be minimized so I don't have the urge to murder you."

"Heh. That's… fair," Kaminari replied as they fell in step with some of the rich visitors.

When they entered the great hall, a beautiful scene confronted them. Marvelous chandeliers were suspended above the space, and elegant silks draped from ceiling to floor with far greater grace than the streamers Kirishima and Sero had taped to the popcorn ceiling in the common area of the dorm. The long table where Momo had tutored several of her classmates was removed, and the couches and tables of food that had occupied the space during the first party were nowhere to be seen. Instead, small circular tables lined the borders of the room, and wait staff carried trays of appetizers and glasses of champagne through the mingling masses of people.

"I'll text Yaomomo," Jiro said, pulling out her phone. There was no way they would find her in this mess.

"No need." Kaminari grinned with a finger pointed toward Iida, who was emerging from the crowd at a breakneck pace.

"Jiro! Kaminari! Yaoyorozu is this way," Iida told them.

Kaminari raised an eyebrow. "You know, Iida, you should probably call Yaomomo by her given name if you don't want people to suspect anything."

With a tight-lipped frown, Iida cleared his throat. "Momo… is this way. Is that less suspicious?" he asked earnestly.

Jiro and Kaminari exchanged a look of worry. "Uh, yeah, Iida. That's less suspicious, I suppose." Jiro scratched at the back of her neck.

Kaminari coughed a little awkwardly. "Maybe don't pause like that after you say it," he suggested.

Iida nodded diligently. "That is reasonable. Allow me to rephrase: Jiro! Kaminari! Momo is this way," Iida said with a smile.

Jiro smiled back. "Thanks, Iida." They followed Iida through the crowd until they reached nearly the center of the room. Momo was talking to a large group, easily smiling and clearly enjoying herself. When she saw her classmates approach, she excused herself.

"Jiro!" she called, throwing her arms around the purple-haired girl with excitement. "You're finally here! Can I get you both anything?"

Jiro rolled her eyes as she leaned into Momo's hug. She could feel some of the tension in her shoulders ease, and her heart rate steadied itself for a few moments. "Momo, you don't have to act like a host with us, we're your-"

"I could go for some of that champagne," Kaminari said, reaching towards a member of the wait staff who was walking by carrying a tray of the thin glasses. Iida slapped his hand away with a look of strong disapproval.

Momo laughed as she pulled back from her hug with Jiro. "We have soda, if you'd like," she offered with a radiant smile.

"That would be perfect," Kaminari replied while rubbing his reddened hand. "Class reps have to suck the joy out of everything," he muttered.

With a scowl, Jiro turned away from him. In the few weeks they had dated, Jiro had put up with his incessant complaints. He thought that mumbling his frustrations under his breath would keep them private, but Jiro's hearing was incredibly fine-tuned. Even in the bustling great hall, she could distinguish his mumbled disappointment from every other conversation.

It was a little overwhelming, all things considered. And her girlfriend had disappeared to find soda for Kaminari, so Jiro could feel her heart rate increase in her chest.

"Hello, Kyoka, dear!" Momo's mother's voice was fairly easy to distinguish from the crowd as well, and Jiro whipped around to find herself face-to-face with the smiling woman. "I do hope you and your date are enjoying yourselves!"

"Of course! Thank you very much for inviting us," Jiro replied, taking a step back subconsciously. Her breathing grew shallow and her eyes darted to Kaminari and Iida, who were otherwise occupied. Iida was scolding Kaminari and telling him not to take too many of the oysters on a platter from another member of the wait staff.

"So, how long have you and that… boy… been dating?" Momo's mom looked over at Kaminari with a raised eyebrow. "He's quite boisterous."

Jiro shifted her feet awkwardly. "Um, I've been dating Kami-" She swallowed unintentionally in her nervousness, but she used it as an opportunity to call Kaminari by his given name. "-Denki. I've been dating Denki since the first week of school. When the villains attacked the USJ, the two of us were stranded with Momo, and we had to fight our way out."

"Ah, yes. Momo did mention that attack. It was rather reckless of the school to ask you students to fight like that. I mean, you're only children, after all."

"Well, it's not U.A.'s fault," Jiro said. "There was no way they could have prevented that attack."

Momo's mom scoffed. "Perhaps. But… there are quite a few things that I do not approve of from that school. I was expecting the very best education for my daughter, and it seems as though she is attacked every other week."

This entire conversation was making Jiro extremely uneasy. Her education was being attacked, her choice in boyfriend was blowing up in her face yet again, and she was starting to realize that her relationship with Momo was even more stressful than her relationship with Kaminari. At least when that relationship got turbulent, it was over.

"Hello, Jiro," she heard from behind her. It was Todoroki's calm voice, wafting over to her from a few paces away.

She turned to see Todoroki while wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead. "Oh, hi, Todoroki!" She had never been more happy to see the monotone boy in her life.

"It's a pleasure to see you here. Do you know where Yaoyorozu is? I wanted to say hello." He gave her a gentle smile, and Jiro realized with a sinking feeling that he probably had no idea that she and Momo were pretending not to be dating.

"I don't know where she went off to," Jiro said quietly. Her heart was pounding so loudly in her ears that she was starting to get a headache. "This is Yaomomo's mom, so she might know. Or you could ask Iida. He's over there." She motioned to the boy, who was now instructing Kaminari not to stand on one of the chairs.

For a moment, Todoroki's eyes narrowed. "I understand," he whispered, knowing Jiro would hear him. "I apologize," Todoroki said, directing his attention to Momo's mom. " I did not realize you were Yaoyorozu's mother. My father, Todoroki Enji, sends his regards and regrets that he could not be here himself."

Her smile never seemed to falter. "Of course. He is a busy man."

"Hey! Todoroki! I'm glad you made it!" Momo returned with a few glasses of soda, handing one to Kaminari as she passed.

"Oh, Momo, you should have asked one of the waiters to get drinks for you and your friends," her mother said. "They are your guests."

"I know, I'm sorry," Momo said sheepishly. "I wanted to see more people."

Her mother smiled. "Bring your friends with you next time. Anyway, I must be getting along now. If you and Iida come around, maybe you can finally put some of those rumors to rest, right?" With that, the woman gave Momo a quick side hug and glided away.

Jiro felt her stomach turn over as her heartbeat suddenly paused for a second. Of course, while all these people were around her and her ex was being an idiot, she was reminded that her girlfriend's parents don't want gossip about their daughter to include some purple-haired girl.

She looked down at her hands, wishing very much to fall through the glossy wooden floors.

"Yaoyorozu, grab Kaminari and Iida. We need to talk," Todoroki stated quietly. Jiro didn't look up, but she could hear Momo's footsteps as she went to gather the boys. "Jiro, let's go find someplace quiet, and all of us are going to have a conversation."

* * *

It didn't take long for Momo to find an unoccupied room for the five students to huddle in. It was one of several wine cellars, located beneath one of the bustling kitchens.

"Is no one going to come down here?" Todoroki asked.

Momo shook her head. "We have all the drinks we need up on the main floor already."

The group was silent for a moment. Strangely enough, in this smaller, darkened space, Jiro felt as though she could breath a little more freely. Still, she pulled her arms across her chest and hugged her shoulders as she sat down on the stairs.

"Listen, Yaoyorozu, you have to tell your parents," Todoroki stated. "You haven't told them about your relationship with Jiro, correct?"

The other four froze for a moment in shock. Iida recovered the fastest, taking in a sharp breath to reply, "This is not exactly your business, Todoroki. And it is not theirs, either."

"You're right that it's not my business. And I won't out you two. I understand that it can be hard to go against your parents' wishes - and I'm speaking as someone who has been rebelling against my father for my whole life - but it can be worth it," Todoroki reasoned. "It sucks, when you tell them and they blow up in your face. My father would literally set fire to the house when he was upset with me."

"I would have thought you would understand more than anybody," Momo countered. "I hate that my parents care about their reputation like this - hell, that's not even the main problem. I hate how bigoted they are, like I would be less worthy of their love if I was a lesbian. I hate that they would treat Kyoka with disgust instead of the respect they give her now. I hate that I have to rebel against them if I want to be myself."

"Well, maybe you do. But look at the big picture, Yaoyorozu. When do you get to just be who you are and date who you want? You're 15 years old, and you've saved your own life at least twice now. Are you not willing to fight for this, too?"

"Don't talk to me like that! Don't tell me I wouldn't fight for Kyoka! I would die for her, Todoroki!" Momo's voice filled the dense room. There was no acoustic echo in the cellar, and her words seemed to hit the walls and dissipate. "I would sacrifice anything for her, and she knows that."

Todoroki sighed with a bit of frustration. "It's not true. If you were willing to sacrifice everything for her, you would have told your parents by now."

"That doesn't matter! We don't need to tell my parents. They don't have to know," Yaoyorozu said, her usually measured tone replaced by one of panic. "We've talked to each other about this."

"Yaoyorozu, I wouldn't have brought this up if Jiro didn't look so uncomfortable here. When she was talking to your mom, she looked like she was trapped in a cage." He paused to take a deep breath. "From everything I've seen, your relationship has been entirely about you. Your parents can't know, so Jiro has to keep it a secret. Your family is hosting a party, so Jiro has to go, even though crowds stress her out. Your parents wanted your female friend to bring a date, so Jiro had to ask her ex-boyfriend, who cheated on her, to bring her."

Momo sniffed angrily. "If Kyoka was uncomfortable, she would have told me," she said.

"No, she wouldn't have. I don't want to put words in her mouth, but I can almost guarantee that her relationship with Kaminari was less stressful than the relationship she is currently having with you," Todoroki stated. His words were spoken with anger, but it was not out of malice. Unfortunately, he did not seem to know just how deeply his words affected the others in the room.

Kaminari cleared his throat. "Um, actually, I have something I want to say." He was holding his phone in one hand, and he was clearly not paying much attention to the conversation at hand. "I think there's some sort of a problem at-"

"That's not true, Todoroki." Momo's voice was shaken, and she hiccuped. From Jiro's seated place on the stairs, she could almost feel Momo's body shaking as she started to cry. "He cheated on her. She would never - she doesn't feel that way!"

"Yes - and I'm still sorry about that, by the way - but I really think there's something going on-" Kaminari tried again, but he was cut off again, this time by Todoroki.

"I think I went too far," he began, but Momo was no longer listening to him.

"Kyoka, there's no way you feel like that, right? I love you, and you know I do. I-" When she turned to look at Jiro, she froze.

Jiro had been staring at the ground, listening to the argument unfold in front of her. She had tried for weeks to support Momo, but she never realized just how taxing it had been. It was true that she often went to extreme lengths to keep her relationship a secret, but Momo had always been so sweet and so kind. Not only did she help Jiro study for exams, not only did Momo take her to fancy restaurants and buy her expensive gifts - Jiro could tell that Momo really loved her, and there was an intimacy between them that Jiro had never experienced before.

That was how she justified the stress she endured as she kept her mouth shut in front of Momo's parents. That was Jiro's justification for doing anything Momo wanted, no matter how inconvenienced she would be. That was how she had justified pulling on an itchy gown and applying formal makeup earlier that evening, when she would much rather be partying around the dorm common room with her friends and leaning against Momo's shoulder as they watched a bad movie and ate burned popcorn.

When Jiro came to her senses, she realized she had tucked her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her shins. Her cheeks were soaked with streams of tears she hadn't even realized were falling.

"Kyoka?" Momo asked. The shuddered breaths she was taking made Jiro realize just how tight her lungs were. "Kyoka, it's true, isn't it."

Iida, who had been strangely overwhelmed into silence for most of the fight, walked forward and placed a hand on Momo's shoulder. "Yaoyorozu, perhaps… it would be best, both for you and for Jiro, if you told your parents. Maybe getting this off your chest will actually help more than your parents' opinions will hurt."

Momo hung her head. "You're right, Iida, Todoroki. Kyoka, I'm so sorry. I can't believe I didn't notice." She slowly walked over to the step where Jiro was sitting and crouched down to give her a warm hug.

"Guys, I'm really, really sorry, but I'm starting to get really worried," Kaminari said, shuffling his feet. "Sero and Kirishima are both trying to text me right now, and I don't really - I mean, it's hard to figure out what they're trying to say…" He paused as he tried to find the right words. "I think U.A. is getting attacked, and I think the villain is more powerful than the Nomu."

The group was silent for a moment before Jiro wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Then let's go, already!" She stood up and broke free from Momo's grasp with a look of determination.

"Wait - we can't just run into danger like that!" Iida replied with a fearful gasp. "We need to alert the police and get pros on the scene!"

"U.A. can't get in the news again," Jiro shot back. "The school's been dragged through the mud. If we can get some pros to the school without bringing any attention to it, that would be better."

"I'll call my father," Todoroki said, already blowing past Momo and Jiro to get up the stairs. "Iida, do you have any contacts you could get on short notice?"

Iida nodded, following Todoroki to leave. "I still think we should call the police."

"Then call them, class rep! It's up to you!" Kaminari said, reaching the stairs a moment after Iida and bounding up two at a time.

Jiro turned to Momo and wiped the tears from her face. "We can talk about this more at a later time, okay? I love you," Jiro said, giving Momo a quick peck on the cheek.

"I love you too," Momo replied, wiping more tears from her eyes. Her eyeshadow smeared, but Jiro didn't care. She was still gorgeous.

* * *

The party watched in awe as Iida streaked through the masses, parting the crowd with ease as he powered up his quirk. Todoroki and Kaminari sprinted after him, with Todoroki shouting into his cell phone about some sort of emergency, and Kaminari worriedly asking why Sero and Kirishima weren't picking up.

Jiro and Momo ran out of the kitchen last, both at a sprint, but bagged down by extra fabric and uncomfortable shoes. At some point, Momo stopped to take her shoes off, discarding them and ripping off the bottom half of the skirt of her dress clean off. Jiro stopped with her, though her flats were considerably more comfortable.

"Momo, what's happening?" her mother asked, watching in complete horror and confusion as Momo generated more reasonable shoes for herself.

"Don't worry about it, mom. We can handle it. I'm not a baby anymore." She quickly slid her feet into the new shoes and turned to leave. "Oh, and by the way, I'm gay, and Kyoka's my girlfriend."

With that, she grabbed Jiro's hand, and they bolted for the door.


	21. Chapter 21

AN: Hello there! I can't believe it's been a full three weeks of this. It really doesn't seem like I've been writing this story for that long. Well, anyway, three weeks and 21/30 chapters done is an impressive milestone for me, and thank you to everyone who takes the time to continue reading.

Happy Thanksgiving, and I'll be back with another chapter in about 24 hours. You're awesome!

* * *

Chapter 21: That's Enough Out of You

"Dark Shadow, now!" Tokoyami hissed. At his command, Dark Shadow lashed out to strike one of the weaker villains. After attacking, Dark Shadow returned to Tokoyami in an instant, shrouding him in darkness as the villain whipped around to defend himself.

"Damn it!" the villain cursed, scanning the somewhat quiet room for any sort of motion. Tokoyami barely allowed himself to breath. "Show yourself, you little U.A. brat!"

He approached the corner where Tokoyami had hidden himself. Tokoyami wasn't sure if it was the villain's scarred face or his proximity that was making him so uncomfortable - the villain was right on top of him.

Tokoyami's vision had tunneled so intensely that he didn't even notice the figure sneaking up behind his scarred opponent. With a thud, the villain fell to the ground, wincing as Sato stepped forward and punched him even harder into the floor to efficiently knock him out.

"Thank you, Sato," Tokoyami said with a thankful nod in his classmate's direction. Sato grunted in response - he had consumed enough sugar that his mental capacity was shot.

Tokoyami looked around the room with thoughtful concern. At the first sign of trouble, Tokoyami had fled from the common area. This was as much due to Shoji's urging as anything else, as he knew Tokoyami and Dark Shadow were still wary from the fight at the training camp. The room he currently occupied was one of the empty bedrooms that no one was using. Faint shouts and crashes wafted in through the open door, and from the sounds of it most of the fight was happening on the ground floor where the villains had first entered.

Tokoyami had seen this particular villain - who Sato had so graciously incapacitated - generate blue fire, which was why he had not wanted to assault this opponent head-on. The brilliance of the flames was enough to outmatch Dark Shadow. Besides, if this villain had lashed at Tokoyami with his fire, there was a good chance he would have set the building alight.

"Stick with me, Sato. Let's find the rest of our classmates." Tokoyami glanced out the door, seeing no conflict in the hallway. He and Sato crept down the hallway (or, more accurately, Tokoyami crept down the hallway as Sato meandered obliviously beside him) to reach the stairs. Whether or not he was ready for a greater fight, Tokoyami realized he had to try to save his friends.

He stopped just shy of the stairs, as he could hear footsteps. Dark Shadow helped him move Sato out of the way of the stairwell as the clinking of shoes ascending the stairs grew louder. The steps were uneven and differed in volume and consistency. "Sh!" he motioned to Sato, who nodded, staying silent in his sugary stupor.

"Hurry, hurry!" It was Asui's panicked voice that Tokoyami heard first, and it became increasingly clear to Tokoyami that she was practically dragging someone up the stairs with her. Shouts came from the bottom of the stairwell as Asui's footsteps neared Tokoyami.

"Hey! Get back here, little ladies," Tokoyami heard. The voice was hideously condescending.

Tokoyami took a deep breath. "Dark Shadow, go help Tsuyu." Dark Shadow nodded quietly before slinking down the stairs to find Asui. With Dark Shadow's help, Asui made it up the final flight of stairs much more easily, running into the hallway with Uraraka draped over her back.

"Tokoyami! Sato! Help, please," she whispered, collapsing on the ground. Her leg was injured, and blood ran down her knee and started to stain her sock.

Tokoyami nodded, positioning himself so he could ambush an attacker who followed the girls into the hall. Within a few seconds, two rather excited villains crashed up the final leg of the staircase. The sounds of battle from the floor beneath rattled Tokoyami as Dark Shadow helped him trip the pair of enemies as they ran into the hallway.

Immediately, Dark Shadow crushed one of the villains into the floorboards with such intensity that he punched a hole through the carpet. Sato practically drop kicked the other villain, and Asui stretched out her tongue to grab him by the ankle and slam him into the floor several meters away.

"Is Uraraka okay?" Tokoyami asked, kneeling down to take a look at her. A few tears had made their way down Asui's cheeks, which she now had time to wipe away with a sniffle.

"I don't know. She… she jumped in front of me and took a heavy hit, and I just had to get her out of there. I couldn't carry her with my tongue because I was using it to defend us, and I don't know what to do."

Tokoyami patted Asui on her shoulder. "My room is just at the end of the hallway here, and I have first aid supplies in the top drawer of my dresser," he offered, tossing Asui his keys.

"Where are you going?" she asked as she caught the small loop of keys.

Tokoyami stood up. "I shouldn't have left the fight. I have the strength, but I didn't want to engage in combat, given what happened at the training camp." He took a deep breath. "I realize now that I'm being foolish - if I avoid the battlefield, how can I learn to control Dark Shadow?"

Asui tucked her hair behind her ear. "Go save our classmates. I'm going to stay with Ochako," she said. "Sato, could you help me carry Ochako to Tokoyami's room?" Sato nodded curtly. The first round of sugar seemed to be wearing off, but he still had enough additional strength to lift Uraraka as though she was an empty duffel bag.

Tokoyami and Dark Shadow descended the stairs two at a time, which was a little awkward for the short, raven-faced boy. When he emerged on the bottom floor, the sounds of combat filled his ears. Right in front of the stairs, Tetsutetsu and Kendo were back to back, fending off a very familiar foe for Tokoyami.

"Go, Dark Shadow!" Tokoyami began, diverting the villain's attention.

"Ah! A familiar face," the villain said, and Tokoyami could hear the smirk in his voice. This was the villain who had captured him during the training camp, and Tokoyami refused to let him use his quirk again.

Dark Shadow's swing missed, but the villain was clearly not used to such a small battlefield. With the ceiling just inches above him as he leaped through the tight space, he was unable to dodge Kendo's enlarged fist as she took a solid swing at him. In a three-on-one match in close quarters, it was relatively easy for the students to defeat him.

"Here - I'll tie him up, Kendo offered. "Cover me really quick."

She knelt down to tie the villain's hands behind his back, and she tied him to the stair railing for good measure as well.

"This is why she's our class rep," Tetsutetsu commented as he braced himself for more combat. "She found rope just lying around this place."

When Kendo was done, she stood up. "Tokoyami, what did you come back downstairs for? Is there a problem?"

Tokoyami shook his head. "I shouldn't have run. I can help here, if you have a plan."

"I think we should make a way to get out of here," Kendo suggested. "The front door is the only way in or out of this building, but it's blocked by villains. We need a safe way to evacuate."

"The fire escape leads outside," Tokoyami said. "Connected to the stairs here."

"There's no way they haven't accounted for that. This attack is too well planned," Tetsutetsu replied. "They probably have someone posted back there."

"Roof access? Or do you suggest we make our own exit?" Tokoyami raised an eyebrow. He wasn't sure that retreating to the roof was a good idea, and he wasn't sure how to best go about blowing a hole in the wall.

"If we get Bakugou, or hell - just me and Kirishima, for that matter - we can easily make it through a wall," Tetsutetsu answered.

Kendo nodded. "I don't have any better ideas, so let's get moving!"

The three snuck into the kitchen, where it appeared as though Sero and Kirishima were trying to take out an enemy with the use of various pieces of cooking equipment. Sero had a frying pan, which he swung about wildly to keep their opponent at a distance. She was holding two knives, one of which looked as though it was a meat cleaver. Kirishima tried to draw the girl's attention, by attacking her from behind, but she was elusive.

"Why the hell are you going after me?" Sero shouted as he deflected the giggling girl's smaller knife.

She full on laughed at that. "Oh, he's so gay - he's not worth it," she replied with a quick gesture in Kirishima's direction.

Kirishima's eyes grew wide, and he took another reckless swing at the girl. She easily maneuvered around the counter and out of the way, leading Kirishima to stumble forward into Sero.

"Besides, his skin is all hard, and yours looks so soft. Like hers!" At this, the girl pointed to Shiozaki, who was unconscious. Tokoyami hadn't even noticed her until that point, and neither had Kendo or Tetsutetsu, apparently.

"You bitch!" Kendo said, throwing her usual cautiousness to the wind and charging for the knife-wielding girl. Kendo's sudden appearance surprised the girl, but only for a moment as she fully turned her attention to this new opponent.

Tokoyami and Tetsutetsu sprang into action as well, now that their position was compromised. Tetsutetsu activated his quirk as ran after Kendo, who sustained a cut on her arm before Tetsutetsu could shield her. "What the hell, Kendo?" he shouted.

"Dark Shadow - get this villain out of here." With grim determination, Dark Shadow followed Tokoyami's quiet request. The girls sliced at the towering mass of darkness, but his shadowed form could not be cut, rendering her weaponry useless.

"What is this?" she asked, disgusted. She was forced to drop her knives as Dark Shadow enveloped her. "Let me go!"

"Nice job Tokoyami!" Kirishima said, finally untangling himself from Sero. "Do any of you know what's going on here?" he asked as he strode over to the restrained villain.

"We're looking for Midoriya Izuku! He's really important to the boss," the girl sneered.

Tokoyami furrowed his brow, and his fellow students all gave the villain disgusted looks. "Midoriya is a girl, and you're not getting her," Kirishima growled.

The girl's eyes widened. "Midoriya is a girl? But the boss knows everything, and he said-"

"Why do you want Midoriya and Bakugou?" Kirishima demanded of her.

Suddenly, she grinned. "You were the one who saved that boy, Bakugou. It was you in the woods who saved him. I was right, you are really gay-"

To spare Kirishima from the girl's mockery, Tokoyami instructed Dark Shadow to squeeze her tightly. "Enough games! Why do you want them?" Tokoyami reiterated.

"Ugh! You're not very nice, you know." She sighed. "We want Bakugou because he would be so useful! His quirk is just so powerful, and he's so strong… and Midoriya is All Might's future. Or, at least, that's what I was told."

"That's enough out of you," Sero muttered through gritted teeth. He approached with the frying pan in hand and knocked her out with one quick swing. "She wasn't telling us anything we didn't already know," he commented.

The group stood still for a moment before Kendo paced over to Shiozaki. She addressed Sero as she called over her shoulder. "She told you she likes you, right?"

"Yeah. Just an hour ago. Turns out we both like each other." Sero scratched at the back of his neck.

Kendo snorted as she assessed the severity of Shiozaki's injuries. "Don't break her heart, yeah?" she asked quietly.

Sero nodded, even though Kendo wasn't looking at him. "Of course I won't."

After a few more seconds, Kendo stood up again. "It's nothing too serious. I'll tie up this villain, too," she said with a look at Tokoyami.

Without needing the prompt, Dark Shadow retained his grip on the girl while releasing her arms. Kirishima kicked the butcher's knife and her smaller, stabbing knife away from her on the floor.

"So, did you have any sort of a plan?" Kirishima asked. Sero, now, made his way over to Shiozaki, leaving the frying pan on the kitchen counter as he passed it. Gingerly, he hoisted Shiozaki up into his arms.

"We want to make a way out of here," Tetsutetsu explained. "We figured that the best way to get out of here is to break out of a wall."

Kirishima grinned a little darkly. "I like that plan," he said, punching his hardened knuckles together.

Tokoyami spared a thought for Mezo, and his chest tightened a little. He regretted leaving Mezo behind as he had ran away, but he couldn't think about that. Not right now. At this point, he had a mission: protect Kirishima and Tetsutetsu until they broke a hole through the wall of the dorm, and then go back to save them. Asui, Uraraka, and Sato were in his room, and Mezo was somewhere on the first floor.

The mission came first, and then he could go save his boyfriend.


	22. Chapter 22

AN: Hi there! I have to admit, I was hoping I could get through this whole fight in one chapter. Oh well, there's enough going on in this chapter that it's not worth it to try to continue on. Besides, it's late, and I have to get up pretty early in the morning.

As a warning - I am traveling for a few days, but I should have internet access and hopefully enough time to keep writing. However, in the event of bad or expensive hotel wifi, I might be forced to take tomorrow off from my posting. Regardless of the situation tomorrow, I'll be back with an update the night of the 25th/morning of the 26th.

I am also realizing now that a few of the previous chapters need some editing, and I'm going to try to work on that as well if I can. That's the problem with posting every day - there are a couple details that slipped through the cracks... but anyway, have a nice day or two. You're awesome!

* * *

Chapter 22: Supposed to Happen

There was nothing but chaos going on around her as Midoriya struggled to keep herself upright and engaged in the combat before her. How long had she been fighting - five minutes? Ten? Her heart was pounding in her chest as she fended off Magne.

A Nomu beside the two of them screamed as an explosion knocked it back. The blast was accompanied by an angry, "Die!" as Kacchan gracefully maneuvered around the unintelligent beast.

With an outstretched hand, Magne repelled Kacchan from the Nomu using her quirk, polarizing both so they were flung apart. Kacchan hit the wall with a small thud, while the Numu was able to steady itself almost instantly. However, it appeared as though the Nomu was not interested in attacking Kacchan any further, given how powerful his attack had been. The Nomu wandered off in the direction of another group of students - namely Shoiji, Monoma, and Aoyama.

"Detroit Smash!" Midoriya yelled, attacking while Magne was distracted. She landed a hit on the villain, who was thrown back and into the couch in the middle of the common area.

Magne grunted as she got to her feet. "Gah! You're a strong one, aren't you?" she asked angrily. She reached her hand out to polarize Midoriya and Bakugou, and the two slammed into each other with a painful crash.

"Damn it, Deku!" Kacchan shouted as he tried to detach himself from her.

Midoriya yelped as Kacchan managed to step on her foot. "Just blast her, already!" she directed at her classmate.

The two were twisted to face away from one another, and Kacchan angrily turned his head in an attempt to look at Midoriya. "Don't tell me what to do!" Even as he shouted, however, he set off an explosion in Magne's direction.

With a yell of pain, Magne released the two, and Midoriya immediately sprang into action, leaping towards Magne with the improved speed of Full Cowling. She pinned Magne's arms behind her back and tripped her. The two landed on the ground, Midoriya triumphantly perched atop Magne's struggling form.

"Magne!" Another villain's voice called out as it approached. Midoriya looked up to see Spinner's reptilian form, and she quickly dodged out of his way as he swung for her. "You were the one who Stain chose to save, but that cannot be my mission any longer." Spinner looked rather conflicted as he spoke, and Midoriya noticed a scar running from beneath his mask all the way down to the bottom of his chin. This was a scar that hadn't been present during the attack in the woods.

"Isn't that why you're fighting?" Midoriya asked, hoping against hope that Spinner would cease his attack. He prepared another swing with his great collection of weaponry.

His eyes seemed glazed over behind his bandaged mask. "I am a member of the Vanguard Action Squad, and I do as Shigaraki demands."

He took another swing at Midoriya, and she was forced to let go of Magne to avoid being hit. "Wait, please! You saved me when I ran past you in the woods, right? Because of Stain, and because he thought I could be a real hero," Midoriya pleaded. Her gaze flickered over at Kacchan for a moment, who was glaring her down with disgust. "Not one of the fake heroes who only cares about money or fame - I want to save people!"

"I… I know." Spinner lowered his weapon. Some color returned to his eyes as he looked down. "I want to see a world like what Stain wanted, where heroes do what they do because they know it's what the world needs."

Midoriya nodded. "Then you have to leave the League of Villains. They never even worked with Stain in the first place," she urged, taking a step forward through the chaos.

Magne scrambled to stand up, joining Spinner. "Don't listen to her! We have to bring in Bakugou and Midoriya - that's our mission," Magne said.

"That is Midoriya," Spinner replied quietly, pointing to the green-haired girl.

Magne turned, looking at Midoriya with a bit of confusion on her face. "I thought Shigaraki said Midoriya was a boy…" Her voice trailed off as she put the pieces together. Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open. "I'm sorry. He must have… incorrect information."

"Well, I'm a bit less upset about Shigaraki misgendering me as I am upset that he's getting all of you to try to kill me and my friends," Midoriya commented.

Magne and Spinner were both averting their eyes by this point. "We can't defect. Not out the main door," Spinner said quietly.

"Then make another way out," Kacchan snarled. "It's not our problem that you two idiots joined this group of losers."

Suddenly, a large series of loud crashes and clangs started to ring above the dispersed sounds of battle. Midoriya's attention was drawn to the commotion - across the common room, she could make out Kirishima and Tetsutetsu punching the wall repeatedly.

"That's your way out," she shouted at Magne and Spinner. "Get there now, if you want to defect. Help protect the two who are breaking through the wall - they'll let you through when they're done. That wall is far enough from the entrance that the villains won't see you leave. If not, Kacchan here can deal with you."

With that, Midoriya turned to face the Nomu from before. Shoji was seriously injured, to the point where he could barely stand. Monoma had borrowed Shoji's quirk and was all but crying for help with additional mouths coming out of his hands, and Aoyama was taking nauseating blows at the Nomu with his naval lazer. From such close quarters, it was a wonder he had managed to avoid the Nomu's attacks thus far.

Midoriya slammed into the Nomu, kicking it with a Smash attack. "Get away from my friends!" She shouted, wedging herself between the Nomu and her classmates.

"Thank God!" Monoma shouted, and Aoyama finally collapsed, clutching his stomach. "Your quirk breaks your bones, right? So I shouldn't use it."

"Right. Kirishima's across the room - so's Kendo and Tetsutetsu. One of their quirks would be helpful right now," Midoriya replied.

Monoma nodded, disappearing into the chaos in search of a better quirk to use. "I've always wanted to become metal," he muttered as he left.

The Nomu had Midoriya, Aoyama, and Shoji effectively cornered. Before, in the fight with Muscular, she had managed to barely outmaneuver the bulky villain, and the Nomu had a similar build. Even with Kota on her back, Midoroiya had worked on her agility enough to avoid Muscular and get out without breaking a bone.

"Aoyama, we need to get Shoji out of here," she shouted over her shoulder.

"How, mon amie? He's so heavy!" Aoyama whined. "I can't lift him, and even if I could, you can't lift the both of us to make a run for it."

Midoriya's mind started to race. Aoyama was right, of course - she wasn't sure what to do at this point. She couldn't run; the Nomu had her cornered with two immovable classmates. She couldn't outsmart the Nomu; its physical strength made up for its lack of brainpower. Her vision tunneled and her heart rate increased as the Nomu stared her down. She wiped a stream of sweat from her forehead.

None of this was supposed to happen in the first place.

The Nomu looked as though it was about to make a lunge for her, but the building shook with a powerful blow, forcing both Midoriya and the Nomu to steady themselves. Midoriya hoped that was Kirishima and Tetsutetsu breaking through the wall on the other side of the room.

She braced herself for the Nomu's attack, only to see grey bandages wrap themselves around its powerful form. It screeched, only to be drowned out by a scream of exponentially greater strength. Aizawa sensei and Present Mic sensei landed in front of Midoriya. "Midoriya - get Shoji and Aoyama to the eastern wall! There's a way out," Aizawa sensei called as his bandages returned to him.

"Yes, sensei!" Midoriya shouted as limited relief washed over her. She and Aoyama supported Shoji and pulled him out of the corner while their teachers faced down the angry Nomu.

It didn't take long for them to make it across the ravaged space. Thankfully, All for One had left the building, meaning that only a few villains remained in the common area. Shigaraki and Kurogiri had left the room with him.

However, as the three neared the makeshift exit, blue fire stretched out to lick at their calves. "Leaving so soon?" Dabi drawled, coming out from the kitchen. He was handing Toga a knife as she discarded ropes that had been tied around her hands.

Panic set in as Midoriya found herself completely defenseless. With villains so powerful in front of her and Shoji's weight to support, she was unable to defend herself or her classmates.

"Oh, you're one of the pretty girls!" Toga cheered. "I remember you from the woods. Tell me - you wouldn't happen to know a student named Midoriya Izuku, would you?"

Flames erupted from Dabi's hand, and he allowed embers to fall onto several other surfaces in the room, setting the floor and several pieces of nearby furniture alight. He rolled his eyes as he added, "And Bakugou Katsuki. We're looking for both of them."

"He was so mean, though!" Toga complained, swaying in childish frustration. "I just want to know who Midoriya is."

Midoriya remained silent, and thankfully Aoyama did as well. Behind Toga, Tokoyami was poised with a glint of anger in his eyes, and Todoroki had positioned himself behind Dabi. In a simultaneous motion, Dark Shadow engulfed Toga entirely and Todoroki's ice encapsulated Dabi up to his neck.

After a few seconds of struggle on Toga's part, the knife she had been holding dropped to the ground. "Not again," she muttered as her head appeared above Dark Shadow's form. "Are you gonna tie me up this time?"

"I didn't get tied up the first time," Dabi commented.

Tokoyami hung his head. "That's my fault, and I apologize. He attacked me earlier, but I did not tie him up or otherwise restrain him."

"Ah! Todoroki, you can't set the building on fire!" Yaoyorozu cried as she leaped over the trail of ice leading from him to Dabi. She generated a few fireproof mats to smother the small fires before they could spread.

"Sorry," Todoroki said simply. He was focusing his efforts on keeping Dabi's body frozen. "Does someone want to knock this guy out? He's trying to melt my ice from the inside," he asked.

With a smirk and a little bit of a saunter, Monoma - who had been standing by the exit while the entire exchange had occured - walked between Dabi and Toga. He raised an arm behind each one of their hands and slapped them hard. Immediately, they blacked out.

"How did you do that, moiseur?" Aoyama asked, panting a little. From the small vibrations she could feel through Shoji's body, Midoriya could tell Aoyama was shaking even without hearing the quaver in his voice.

Monoma gave him a wink and made a shushing motion in Aoyama's direction, a silver finger in front of his lips. "Tetsutetsu wasn't too happy with me," he commented with a shrug, "but it was worth it."

Tokoyami approached Shoji, allowing Dark Shadow to release Toga again. Yaoyorozu created a pair of handcuffs, which she and Todoroki applied to their captees. After defrosting Dabi, the two dragged the villains outside. Midoriya saw at this point that they were still wearing formal attire from the event at the Yaoyorozu estate, though Yaoyorozu herself was wearing tennis shoes in a similar color to her dress.

"I'm so sorry, Mezo. I shouldn't have left you. I should never have run away."

Shoji snorted. "Heh. Well, given what happened to me, I can't say I blame you."

Dark Shadow took over supporting Shoji from Aoyama, who practically needed to be carried out through the hole in the wall by Monoma. Outside, several heroes were waiting, and it appeared as though most of Midoriya's classmates had already been evacuated.

"Over here!" Iida called, beckoning them over as a few pros trotted over to help carry Shoji. One was the pro who Iida had interned with, Manuel

"Do any of you know where any of the other students might be?" he asked.

Tokoyami nodded. "Asui, Uraraka, and Sato should be on the second floor, on the men's side, in the farthest room from the stairs. Uraraka was knocked out, and I knew I had medical supplies they could use in my room," he explained.

Manuel nodded. "Thank you. Anyone else?"

"Kacchan is probably still fighting, but I know Aizawa sensei and Present Mic sensei were near him," Midoriya added.

As she spoke, both teachers emerged through the same hole in the wall, with Ashido supported between them and Koda clutching a small rabbit to his chest as he ran after them. "Can we get some help over here?" Aizawa sensei called. Kirishima and Kaminari bolted over to them so they could grab their friend.

A knot formed in Midoriya's stomach. "Where's Kacchan?" she shouted. Kirishima looked at their teachers with interest as well, while Present Mic sensei started to count the students who had gathered.

"All Might is with him," Aizawa sensei assured Midoriya, but the pit in her stomach only grew.

"Are they… fighting the main villain?" Midoriya asked.

Aizawa sensei furrowed his brow, and Midoriya knew the answer. Her suspicion was confirmed as a huge explosion emerged from the front of the building. Before they could stop her, Midoriya released Shoji and sprinted back towards the dorm.

When she rounded the corner to see the front of the building, she was confronted with a sight that absolutely broke her heart. All Might and Kacchan stood before All for One, a towering menace of muscles and power. The muscles that covered his body looked eerily like those that had covered Muscular's body when she ran from him in the woods.

Not only that, but Midoriya watched as he pulled a small, round ball from behind his back - a small, purple bulb, and when he threw it at Kacchan with enough force to push him back until he hit the wall, the ball stuck between Kacchan's arm and the front wall of the dorm.

All for One had taken both their quirks: Muscular's and Mineta's. No, this wasn't supposed to happen. Not at all.


	23. Chapter 23

AN: Hello there! I would like to formally apologize if any of you were waiting for me - I don't know how one night of a break turned into four days. But I'm back now! There will still be 30 chapters total, and the writing time will now extend a few days into December.

Tomorrow's chapter will pick up where this one left off, to finish this wonderful fight scene. There's a lot going on in this chapter, and I hope the wait was worth it…

Anyway, if you're reading this, you're awesome! Thanks so much to everyone who comes back to this, and I will do my very best not to skip any more days.

* * *

Chapter 23: Stop Running, Deku

Everything was happening so quickly. Kacchan was trying desperately to free himself, and All Might appeared completely overwhelmed. His presence was shrouded in the shadows of the villains he faced - the most prominent was the tall man who Midoriya knew to be All for One, the only villain who could match All Might's strength.

All for One was flanked by Shigaraki and Kurogiri, both of whom seemed quite prepared for a long fight. Behind these villains were a total of four Nomus, each with varying abilities and appearances.

"All Might… we both knew this day would come." All for One's drawling voice sent shivers down Midoriya's spine, and she could see Kacchan freeze from his place on the wall. If he was afraid, he would never let it show, but goosebumps crawled up his arms.

"Cease your attack. I will not let you take Young Bakugou!" All Might shouted back. "This was a foolish attack."

All for One laughed coldly. His laughter was broken and rasped, and his breathing sounded painful. "Do you really think so? I'm willing to bet you haven't called the police yet. You don't want this attack to get out to the public. It would be yet another mark against your wonderful academy - and you wouldn't want that."

"I instructed my colleagues to call the police," All Might replied. "The safety of my students is more important than the school's reputation."

"Well, the police aren't here," Shigaraki hissed. "What does it tell you about your colleagues that they don't agree?"

All Might had no response.

"Anyhow, I imagine you don't want to stand around and talk all day, my righteous counterpart," All for One said. The additional muscles he had taken from Muscular bulged and shifted as he sauntered forward. All Might braced himself, glancing back at Kacchan for only a moment.

"Shigaraki, we have a friend behind the corner of the building over there. You ought to talk to young Midoriya." All for One pointed towards her hidden location. He must have targeted her with Ragdoll's quirk - she was pretty sure she had hidden herself well enough to evade detection. Shigaraki's head, complete with eerie blue hand, turned to face her, and before she could really react, he was chasing her down.

As he passed Kacchan, the boy let out a yell of frustration as he tried to blast Shigaraki with an explosion. His blast was immediately enveloped in a swirling purple energy as Kurogiri joined the fray, taking the immobile Kacchan completely out of the fight.

Shigaraki approached Midoriya, who was fully prepared for him - she gave him a solid kick to the stomach, knocking him back several feet with a grunt. When she pulled back, her pant leg was partially disintegrated where he had managed to grab it.

"You're Midoriya?" he asked. "You're the girl who got away from me during our last encounter here at U.A., and you're the one who foils all my plans!" He lunged at her again, and she leaped backwards. With outstretched fingers, Shigaraki managed to grab her wrist before she could activate Full Cowling.

She cried out in pain as a burning sensation shot through her arm. With Full Cowling fully activated, Midoriya kicked Shigaraki's wrist, forcing him to let go of her. "Dammit," she whispered, cradling her injured forearm as she maneuvered around Shigaraki to get back towards Kacchan. She had to get him out of there so that All Might wouldn't have to protect him.

"I shouldn't have expected anything less from All Might's successor." She could hear Shigaraki's voice as it crept up behind her. He was surprisingly agile, but Midoriya evaded him pretty easily. The green electricity around her, while harmless, did make it rather challenging to see exactly which direction she was going to go.

"I'm surprised your boss over there didn't give you a picture," Midoriya grunted as she turned around the corner of the dorms. "Then again, he didn't even know I was a girl, so call me unimpressed."

The Nomus had surrounded Kurogiri's mist, where explosions would occasionally break through with little effect. All Might and All for One were violently taking swings at one another. More often than not, the two would hit each other, generating gusts of wind that rocked the rest of the battlefield.

Midoriya figured that taking Kurogiri out of the picture was a bad idea - his mist was the only reason that the four Nomu hadn't already started attacking Kacchan. However, his misty face had a brow furrowed in frustration. "I can't teleport him! His explosions are too powerful!" Kurogiri shouted to Shigaraki.

"Wait for him to tire himself out. Then let the Nomu at him," Shigaraki hissed back, becoming equally frustrated with his own elusive prey. Midoriya dodged yet another lunge as her heart sank into her stomach. How in the world would she be able to get Kacchan out of there?

Suddenly, a column of fire descended directly between Kacchan and the Nomu, sprouting a wall that cut him off from their threat. A shout of "YEAH!" rang through the courtyard in front of the dorm, causing even All Might and All for One to stop fighting and cover their ears.

Midoriya turned to see Endeavor, hand raised to control the wall of fire, running into the fray beside Present Mic sensei, Aizawa sensei, and several others.

"Midoriya! Get out of here!" Present Mic sensei called to her. He was preparing to shout again.

With a determined wince, Midoriya dodged another one of Shigaraki's attacks. "No! You pros deal with the Nomus. I'm getting Kacchan!"

Aizawa sensei directed Present Mic away from Midoriya, and she couldn't help but grin darkly as she realized that he knew he couldn't get her to give up without retrieving the boy. "Get him out of here, Midoriya!"

She nodded, but Shigaraki managed to grab her as she addressed her teachers. Startled, she yanked herself away, only to find that she had not been injured any more by Shigaraki's hand.

"If we are going to face the Nomu, you have to stay alert, Midoriya! I can't keep his quirk erased very long!" Aizawa sensei called to Midoriya as she bounded towards Kurogiri and Kacchan.

She grunted, grateful that Aizawa sensei was so understanding, but the added help of the pros was doing little to decrease Midoriya's fears. This was so much different from what Midoriya had been expecting.

Even before she got into U.A., Midoriya's actions had all been leading towards a specific goal: to save All Might's life. Midoriya wasn't sure she could do it, but she had to try, and the safety of two worlds depended on her success.

With the use of Full Cowling and as much strength as she was willing to muster, Midoriya's fist made direct contact with Kurogiri's shoulder blade. He had not been expecting her, and the sudden shock led him to release Kacchan, who unleashed a huge explosion as the mist around him dissipated.

Midoriya looked to All Might, who was still busy with All for One. She had to get over there and help him - she had originally hoped that saving Kacchan during the training camp would have been enough to avoid this fight entirely, but that didn't matter anymore. She should have known the league would come back.

Kacchan took a second to steady himself. Midoriya knew she wouldn't be able to face both Kurogiri and Shigaraki, so she took off again in the hopes that they would chase her. Sure enough, Kurogiri took a deep breath, but diverted his attention away from Kacchan and onto Midoriya.

Every decision she had made was to fix the problems with this world - the world of Boku no Hero Academia. In her universe, this was only a story. Its author created a manga in order to attract someone who could save the hero All Might and take his place to become the next great Symbol of Peace. He had selected her out of every fan who had showed interest in his work.

"Come and get me, asshole," Midoriya muttered, sprinting away. She figured Kurogiri would warp her back toward him, allowing herself to charge quickly into the purple mist that appeared before her. She rematerialized facing Kacchan, who she quickly avoided to kick Kurogiri in the chest.

He grunted and doubled over as Shigaraki advanced on her. "Why won't you stay still?" he shouted, angrily grasping for her.

Of course, realistically, not every event would follow the storyline exactly as it had been told. In the manga, Midoriya had been given All Might's quirk before the entrance exam. Living through the story, she hadn't received One for All until just before the attack on the USJ.

Midoriya was starting to tire, but she escaped Shigaraki's outstretched hand yet again. There were only a few places she could run at this point, and she was quickly losing options. The Nomus and the pros were off to one side, All Might and All for One were dueling on the other, and even if she did manage to run, what would be the point? She had to save All Might, and she had to protect Kacchan. Not to mention, Kurogiri could just pull her back no matter how far she ran.

She had worked on her agility from the beginning, as soon as she was sent into this world. She trained her speed and dexterity, unlocking Full Cowling long before she met Gran Torino. This was all in the hopes that she would be able to save Kota at the training camp by avoiding Muscular, rather than breaking her arms and fighting him directly. That way, she could save Kacchan from being captured, and All Might would never have to face All for One.

Midoriya stole another glance at All Might, and her heart started beating a little faster as she saw him absorb the brunt of All for One's punch.

"Stop fucking running, Deku!" Kacchan's angry voice pulled Midoriya back to her current predicament. "You always run away!"

Turning to face Kacchan, Midoriya's whole body came to a stop. Full Cowling's power faded around her and she took a few labored breaths. It was exhausting to keep dodging all these attacks.

Truth be told, Kacchan's angry claim was similar to what Gran Torino had told her.

In the manga she had read, in her world, Gran Torino had taught Midoriya about Full Cowling, where he could use 5% of All Might's power through his entire body. With that knowledge, Midoriya had taught herself to do just that from the first day, and she had used Full Cowling ever since the USJ incident. She had used the ability to avoid Todoroki's walls of ice during the tournament, to fight Stain alongside Iida, and to get away from Muscular. She had been so proud that she had trained herself to avoid him, to get away from Muscular when the Midoriya in the manga had been too slow to do so.

But Gran Torino had told her something else during her internship. He'd told her, "To succeed as All Might has, you can't be the hero that runs away. The greatest thing he can be for those around him is a shield that protects them from harm."

Midoriya looked down at her hands. She was no shield for Kota - she was an escape route. For Muscular, she could have been the wall that kept him from hurting others, while instead, she was a simple nuisance.

When her gaze returned to the villains before her and Kacchan's stationary form, Shigaraki had closed the gap between them and latched onto her upper arm. Immediately, she could feel the burn of flesh melting from her bone as she forced herself into action.

No more running - she had to face these villains head on.

With her free, uninsured hand, she grabbed Shigaraki by the wrist and dug her nails deep into his skin. Her nails drew blood form the man, who winced as he released her.

"Hang on, Kacchan!" Midoriya yelled, redirecting Shigaraki by the wrist so she could pull him towards her classmate. She twisted Shigaraki's body around so she could grab his other forearm so she could keep him from grabbing her or Kacchan.

"What the hell are you doing? This isn't what I meant," Kacchan stuttered.

"Well, this might not have been the original plan, but this should work," Midoriya replied.

Kacchan looked at her like she was crazy. "None of this was the 'original plan' for how the night would go, but that doesn't mean you have to kill me, Deku-"

"Stay still, you idiot! I'm not going to kill you!" Midoriya forced Shigaraki's hand between Kacchan's arm and the wall, where Mineta's ball was keeping him restrained.

Kacchan continued to glare at her as she did this, but upon realizing that this was a rather appropriate response to the issue, he did not put up a fight. Kurogiri, still recovering a few feet away, made a last-ditch effort to teleport Midoriya and Shigaraki away from Kacchan, but he was too late. Kacchan set off an explosion in Kurogiri's wispy face as Shigaraki's hand made contact with the ball.

Within a few moments, the ball had disintegrated. "You take this one - he doesn't like ranged fights," Midoriya said, grinning at Kacchan over Shigaraki's hunched shoulder.

His snarling smirk was enough to warn Midoriya to get out of his way, and she activated Full Cowling again in order to evade Kacchan's blast. This time, instead of running away, she spun around to face Kurogiri. A physical fighter who could body-check Kurogiri would be far more effecting than a ranged attacker.

She could hear Shigaraki's screams of anguish behind her as Kacchan hit him with blast after blast. Midoriya made quick work of Kurogiri in front of her, punching him just a couple of times and finally kicking him to the ground with a thud.

When she looked over at Kacchan, he was smiling. With his arm free, it was clear what his new objective would be. Midoriya could see his eyes lock on All for One, and she let her own gaze wander to the fight.

She was here to save All Might, and that's what she would do. She was just an ordinary girl, but she shook away her fear. She would become a shield for All Might.

"It's time to stop running, Deku," she whispered, cracking her knuckles.


	24. Chapter 24

AN: Hi there. This chapter was a bit of a challenge to write. When the two major characters in a given piece of writing go by "All Might" and "All for One," and both use masculine pronouns, there are a couple of vague sentences that inevitably arise. So, sorry about that - just know that they are beating the crap out of each other.

By the way, I know that I don't really respond to reviews and such, but I really, really appreciate them. I honestly have no idea how this story is really coming across to those who are reading it - and if you leave any reviews, know that I am eternally grateful. Even if all you want to say is that my writing sucks and I have wasted a precious, precious month of your time, I would like to be aware of that.

Anyway, even if you're just reading and have no interest in telling me anything, you're awesome, and I hope you have a wonderful day. Only, what, six chapters left?

* * *

Chapter 24: She Still Breathes

All Might allowed a punch to push him backwards for a moment so he could catch his breath. All for One did not seem to be letting up at all, and the two had been dueling for several minutes by this point. With All Might's dwindling power and All for One's new abilities, it was unclear who would emerge victorious. All Might was having difficulty damaging All for One, as his whole body was covered by a thick layer of muscles.

The hero had done his best to move the conflict as far from the dorm building itself as he could, knowing that the other pros on the scene should be able to deal with the Nomus. Midoriya and Bakugou were in good hands.

"Do you see them, All Might?" All for One asked, gesturing back towards the school. "Your successor, and mine, battling while the two of us push forward towards retirement?"

All Might coughed, and the familiar taste of iron filled his mouth. He wiped away a small drop of blood that beaded up on the corner of his mouth. "I'll tell you again, villain! Stop this attack!"

"I see you're trying to move us away from the center of campus. It's impressive - and very noble. You don't want me to hurt them." All for One's drawl was condescending, and it filled All Might with fury.

"You will not hurt them. I will not allow that," All Might shot back. "If you wanted young Bakugou and young Midoriya, why didn't you leave with them before I could get to you?"

The noise emitted from All for One's mask was gargled, but it sounded almost like a heavily muffled snicker. "What on earth makes you think I'm afraid of you?"

All Might felt his hands ball into fists as he wound up to engage again.

"Don't be deceived, All Might - I could destroy this campus in one motion. This distance is nothing to me." He advanced slowly on All Might, arms out to his sides as though trying to embrace the entire school before him. "Your efforts are vain, if your intention was to keep your students alive."

Without any further hesitation, All Might sprang forward to hit All for One, landing a solid hit to his sternum. "Stay away from them!" he shouted angrily.

All for One returned All Might's punch with his overly muscular arm. He made contact just above All Might's scarred stomach, but the pain ricocheted through All Might's whole body. He doubled over, clutching his ribcage and falling to a knee. "Don't worry, my heroic friend. If I wanted to destroy the school, I would have done so by now. Shigaraki thought that your student, Bakugou Katsuki, would make a fine addition to the League of Villains, but I don't believe he'll cooperate with us. No, he is not the reason I want to keep this establishment standing. You know as well as I that the future is what makes the world keep turning. I have the power to defeat you, All Might, but does Shigaraki have the power to beat Midoriya?"

All Might panted and winced as he stood. "Leave my students be. You will not touch them as long as I live."

"Your death can be arranged. Besides, our fight is nearing its end. I dare say that our disciples will fight the true battle, while you and I fade into obscurity." All for One approached, throwing All Might off balance with a powerful left hook that he couldn't block. The punch was accompanied by a forceful gust of wind that blew All Might to the side as he regained his footing. However, before he could counter, All for One grabbed him by the collar and spun him around, throwing him 20 feet up in the air and slamming him down into the pavement.

"Gah!" All Might grunted. His head hit the ground with a cracking sound, and the entire paved area was destroyed around him.

"There is nothing quite as satisfying as seeing you get up when you have no chance of winning. The last time we fought, when I killed Shimura Nana, I thought I'd never see your face like that again." Behind him, All Might could see the school, where Endeavor's fire and Bakugou's explosions were stretching high into the sky.

"What do you want, then?" All Might asked, feeling his muscles start to twitch and give way. His own muscular form was becoming difficult to maintain, and this was the farthest he'd pushed himself in quite some time. As quickly as he could manage, All Might pushed himself off the ground and to his feet. "If you are not here to destroy the school, and you don't want young Bakugou or young Midoriya, then why are you here?"

All for One was silent for a moment. "There was something I wanted to tell you. Shigaraki - I found him when he was just a child. It was like a dream come true for me to discover his origins."

It was hard for All Might to tell, but All for One's gaze seemed to be locked on him. His skin crawled.

"Shigaraki is Shimura Nana's grandson."

All Might could feel his eyes grow wide and his knees buckle, ever so slightly. His chest burned and tightened, and his heart seemed to sink into his stomach. It seemed implausible, and yet he somehow knew it had to be true.

A guttural laugh escaped through the mask. "That right there - that look! That's what I want. I want to watch your spirits fall, and the color to drain from your face. I want to see the world wake up tomorrow morning with no beloved Symbol of Peace. I want to watch the media tear your school down because they think you can't protect your students."

He paced towards All Might, who was frozen in horror. "I want to watch you crumble into pieces."

Through the mask, All for One took a deep breath. "I live for chaos. Atop a hierarchy of destruction is where I belong. And one day, he will take my place - your master's angry grandson."

All Might's horror seemed to boil over in an instant, changing rapidly from hopelessness, to disgust, to white-hot rage. "Detroit SMASH!" he shouted, pivoting on his heel to nail All for One straight in the chest. He lunged forward to continue his attack, striking with a flurry of blows. It was nearly a minute before All for One managed to counter him at all, grabbing one of All Might's wrists and forcing them into a wrestling match.

All Might grasped at the extra muscles bulging around All for One's skin, trying to detach them from his wrists and shoulders. It was easy enough to peel away some of the layers of muscles, and this seemed to be causing real pain for his opponent.

"Do you think maybe it was a mistake," All Might grunted as he tore at All for One's body, "to make me angry when your intention was to fight me?"

Finally, it seemed as though All for One had no poetic reply. Their fight devolved entirely into a brawl of contested strength, where each was fueled by their emotions. All Might drove himself to his limit out of his desire - his need - to protect his students. He could see All for One's featureless face through his mask, pushing himself forward with glee and excitement.

"Die!" From behind All for One, Bakugou's angry shout diverted their attention. All for One's whole back was engulfed in a huge explosion that rang throughout the courtyard.

Green lightning emerged from the smoke, along with a shout of "SMASH!" as Midoriya's foot collided with All for One's ribcage. He was forced away from All Might, who took the opportunity to wipe a long line of blood from his chin.

"Young Midoriya! Young Bakugou!" he called as the two became visible through the dissipating smoke. "You need to get back to the others!"

"Shut up! Don't tell me what to do!"

"The pros can handle the Nomus, All Might! We can help you!"

Bakugou unleashed a few additional explosions, and All Might could see the damage that the heat inflicted upon All for One's muscles. He recoiled in shock as Bakugou forced him to put some distance between them. With Midoriya's enhanced speed, she kicked out All for One's knees, causing him to fall backwards as she returned to stand beside All Might.

"So, you two are the students I've been hearing so much about," All for One commented as he stood himself up. The muscles that had been targeted by Bakugou's explosions were singed and hung uselessly at his sides. "I didn't realize one of you was a girl. I targeted you both with Ragdoll's quirk, and all it could tell me was that you were both here."

All Might could hear Midoriya suck in a breath and let out a short sigh. "Yes, I'm transgender, but honestly I'm a bit more offended that you're trying to kill me," she said quietly. Her voice was strangely level during such a dangerous situation.

"I don't have to kill you if you let me fight with your… violent professor over there." All for One nodded towards All Might, who simply glared in return.

"Ha! You must have a death wish if you think you can face All Might and win," Bakugou growled, positioning himself to make another attack.

All for One snorted. "Don't be foolish, boy."

All Might's eyes widened, and both he and Midoriya turned to look at Bakugou. His eye twitched, and a wide, dangerous grin spread across his face. "Foolish?"

With that, he blasted himself towards All for One, forcing Midoriya and All Might to do the same. All Might cursed Bakugou in his mind - of course telling him not to act stupidly would lead to a brash attack from the student, and All Might should have had better reflexes to grab him.

Midoriya was used to analyzing the actions of those around her, and she quickly maneuvered around All for One to flank him, effectively trapping him so he couldn't move away to dodge All Might's attacks. Plus, All Might realized, she could use All for One's body to block the angry explosions Bakugou was giving off.

Together, the three heroes dealt blow after blow to All for One's increasingly desperate form. However, a random swing managed to strike All Might across the chest that shoved him out of the fray violently. He tripped over some of the uprooted pavement and fell on his back, watching helplessly as All for One kicked Bakugou off to the side and ran forward towards him.

All Might couldn't get out of the way in time, and it appeared as though All for One was going to body slam him into the ground. The steam escaping from All Might's body and his exhaustion was enough to warn All Might that he would not be able to endure this hit as All for One's lumbering form advanced on him.

He braced for impact, but it never came - green lightning materialized between them, and Midoriya completely stopped All for One's attack.

He slammed her into the ground, far into the concrete. The cracks of broken bones filled the air, followed by a powerful shock wave that echoed across the campus.

She stilled, and All for One stood above her, huffing angrily as he looked down at Midoriya's face. "She still breathes," he muttered, just loud enough for All Might to hear.

Suddenly, All for One's head was completely engulfed in flames as Bakugou let out a scream. "Get away from them!"

As All for One turned to face this new threat, Bakugou propelled himself up to his face and set off an explosion that ruptured All for One's mask. All Might felt his heart begin to race as Midoriya lay in the broken pavement by his feet, and rage consumed him yet again as he rocketed up from the ground and landed a punch on All for One's exposed cheekbone.

"United States of SMASH!"

* * *

Immediately after their victory, All Might and Bakugou restrained All for One and rushed to Midoriya's side. "Why the hell did she… why did she do that?" Bakugou asked, shooting accusatory looks at All Might. This did little to help the sinking feeling in All Might's chest as he took Midoriya's pulse and measured her breathing. "You could have taken that hit, right? And she should have known that he wasn't going to kill you," Bakugou pressed. There was legitimate panic in his voice that All Might had never heard before.

"You need to go and get the others, young Bakugou. And tell them to bring Recovery Girl!" All Might instructed. Guilt welled up in his chest as he thought about how he should have been able to withstand that attack. She never should have had to do that - he was supposed to protect her from harm, not the other way around!

Bakugou, thankfully, followed his instructions. With the use of his explosions, Bakugou made his way back across the courtyard to the other pros in seconds. They seemed to be wrapping up with the Nomus, finally.

"All… Might?" Midoriya's voice shocked All Might, who turned his attention back to her in an instant. "Are you okay?" she asked weakly.

"Yes, young Midoriya. Thanks to you." All Might smiled at the girl, and she did her very best to smile back. It looked more like a grimace against the pain than anything else.

"And Kacchan?"

"He's getting Recovery Girl to come and take a look at you." All Might stole a glance at the group of pros, seeing that Aizawa was already sprinting for them. "But first, Aizawa is going to need to make sure you're okay."

"Me? I'm fine," Midoriya said, trying to shift her body to sit up. A few of her joints popped and cracked and she winced as she tried to move any part of her body.

All Might stilled her actions with a hand placed very gently on her shoulder. "Did you know I wasn't going to be able to withstand that last attack?" he asked quietly.

"You seemed a little… I don't know." She closed her eyes. "Even if you could have taken it without losing your muscular form, I feel a little responsible for all of this."

"Midoriya!" Aizawa called, approaching breathlessly along with a few other pros and teachers. Bakugou and a few of the other students arrived within a few seconds as well, and Iida appeared not long after with Recovery Girl in tow. She was wearing a nightgown, but she immediately went to work on Midoriya's injuries.

Aizawa kept the crowds back as Recovery Girl began to nurse Midoriya to health. All Might could see Endeavor behind the groups of people, cuffing All for One's unconscious form.

"What do you mean, you are responsible for this?" All Might asked. It was becoming incredibly difficult for him to maintain his muscular form, but he did not want to leave Midoriya's side.

She sniffled, and tears started to escape from the edges of her eyes. "At the training camp, I faced a villain who was trying to kill Kota. I grabbed Kota and we managed to run away, but that villain had… well, he could grow muscles on the outside of his body. And - and-" Midoriya stopped herself, and All Might could see why. The rest of the class and most of the pros had no idea about All for One or his abilities, and this might give something away.

"That doesn't matter. You did what you were supposed to do. You saved the child, Kota, then, and you protected me now."

Recovery Girl tutted angrily from beside them. "All Might, I can't believe you would do so little to keep your students out of harm's way," she said, giving him a pointed look.

"It's really not his fault," Midoriya countered. She had enough motion back in her right arm that she could wipe her eyes. "Kacchan and I should have left him alone so he could fight without our interference."

Surprisingly, Bakugou did not seem to have an angry retort. He simply stood behind Aizawa and hunched over in greater frustration at the sound of his name.

"I should have known they'd come back for us, All Might. I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for, Midoriya," Aizawa reassured her, looking first to her and then to All Might. A look of "what the hell happened?" was apparent on his face, as well as genuine fear. "We will transport you to the nurse's office as soon as your condition is stable."

Within a few minutes, that was the case. A small stretcher arrived, carried by bots that worked in the nurse's office, so that Midoriya could be carted off. Most of the students, as well as Aizawa and most of the teachers, followed Midoriya, while the additional pros stayed behind to clean up. All Might stole off on his own and deflated, both physically and mentally. He knew he would have to get back out there to round up whatever villains remained in and around the dorms, but he needed to recuperate.

Midoriya had been right to worry about him. He was so close to losing his muscular form in that battle that her taking that attack had spared him quite a bit of trouble. He hated to think of such a horrible attack in that way, but Midoriya's action was the only reason that his secret was still alive.

A question dominated his thoughts. Could he have defeated All for One on his own? It scared him to think that he couldn't, but it certainly seemed that way.

He realized that Midoriya must have been scared, too. She was scared that he wouldn't be there forever, and he hated that he was the source of her fear.

With a few deep breaths, he pushed himself into his muscle form again and returned to the aftermath of the battlefield. He took out his phone and called a familiar number.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Tsukauchi? It's Toshinori. You'd better bring a few cars down to U.A., and do so quietly if you can. We've got a few villains for you to pick up."


	25. Chapter 25

AN: Hi there! This chapter, much like a few of the others recently, turned out a little longer than I was expecting. The conversation between Kendo and Yaoyorozu just wasn't working the way I wanted it to, and I'm not really sure how to fix it... for now, I'm just going to leave this chapter here, and once these last couple of chapters are done I will return to take another swing at it.

Thank you for reading, and you're wonderful. Have a nice day!

* * *

Chapter 25: We Move Ahead

Midoriya was wheeled into Recovery Girl's office first, but she was not the only student who had received injuries. Shiozaki from class 1-B had been knocked unconscious. Uraraka, who had lost a significant amount of blood from the cut on her leg, was placed on a bed adjacent to Midoriya. Shoji had been badly beaten up as well, though most of his injuries seemed to be colorful bruises and shallow cuts sustained during his encounter with the Nomu in the dorm building. All in all, his damage seemed fairly minimal.

Sero and Kirishima both discovered a few minor scrapes from their encounter with the crazy girl with the knives, but they refused treatment from Recovery Girl. Kirishima said it would have been a waste of her time.

Others, like Aoyama, Asui, and Tokoyami, had received few or no physical injuries, but were shaken by the events in any case. Recovery Girl insisted that they should stay in her office overnight.

Todoroki had chosen to stay by Midoriya's bedside for a while, not even bothering to change into street clothes; he was still wearing his formal attire from the event at the Yaoyorozu household. Apparently, Shoji was fussing over Tokoyami for a while, until he had determined that Tokoyami was fine and agreed to lie down. Kendo, Tetsutetsu, and Sero had all crowded themselves around Shiozaki's bedside for the first half hour of the night, but Recovery Girl soon tried to kick them all out, as their presence crowded the already packed area. Kendo and Tetsutetsu left Sero to watch over her.

Kendo and Tetsutetsu left the small, makeshift hospital to find most of class 1-A standing outside, watching them with apprehension. Surprisingly, even Monoma had followed the group to the nurse's office. "Yaoyorozu and Iida, let me talk to you," Kendo said, motioning for them to follow her.

When Iida and Yaoyorozu had reached Kendo, she motioned for Tetsutetsu to leave them so they could speak privately. He drifted over to stand beside Kirishima.

"Anything you can tell us?" Iida asked quietly.

Kendo nodded. "I didn't want to tell your classmates for you, but Recovery Girl says most of them should be out by morning. In fact, there's only one student who is of concern…" she trailed off.

"Midoriya," Yaoyorozu finished, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth.

Iida's eyes widened. "Is she… will she be alright?"

"Her condition is currently stable, but she received some pretty grave injuries. Recovery Girl is worried she won't be better by the license exam," Kendo explained.

Both Iida and Yaoyorozu averted their eyes. "She won't like that," Iida said with a sad grin.

"It's not like Midoriya to give up," Yaoyorozu murmured. "For all we know, she'll get out of bed in the morning with sheer willpower."

Kendo smiled, attempting to remain optimistic. "You know her better than I do. For now, I should go find Vlad King sensei. I'm sure everyone in the class B dorms is awake after all that ruckus, and I should make sure he doesn't need my help."

"Thank you, Kendo. We appreciate this," Iida said, bowing to show his respect. He and Yaoyorozu turned to address their class, but Kendo stopped Yaoyorozu before she could get too far, grabbing her wrist.

"Hold on, Yaoyorozu. At the beginning of the year, you offered to get coffee or something with me, right? Just so we could talk about class rep stuff, or whatever else was going on," Kendo said quietly. "Can I take you up on that? I kind of have a lot to talk about, and no one who will listen."

Yaoyorozu turned back to Kendo, a little surprised. "Of course, Kendo! Though… could we postpone until after the license exam?"

"Yeah, definitely." Kendo released Yaoyorozu's arm. "Do you mind if I bring Tetsutetsu? He's a good friend."

"Not at all. He's going to want to bring Kirishima, too, right?" Yaoyorozu replied.

Kendo laughed, very quietly. "He will absolutely bring Kirishima along."

"There's a place down the street. We should meet there the morning after the license exam," Yaoyorozu suggested. "They have wonderful tea."

"Ah, good. I prefer tea over coffee, honestly." Kendo gave Yaoyorozu one final smile before she made her way back towards the dorms.

Yaoyorozu turned back to face the group of her sullen classmates, seeing that Iida was already telling them about the conditions of their friends in the nurse's office.

As the night continued, the students were informed that the villains had been taken into police custody and that the dorm building was free of external threats. Cementoss had made sure the building was structurally sound, meaning that the students were free to enter the building to grab their things.

Additionally, the students were told not to contact their parents yet - the police were seeing if they could keep the attack from hitting the presses, given that this story would likely have negative repercussions for the school's future. Temporary housing arrangements, as well as additional food, were provided in a few of the classrooms further towards the center of campus.

Yaoyorozu found herself in a room with Kyoka, Hagakure, and Ashido. From the looks on her classmates' faces the next morning, Yaoyorozu was pretty sure none of them had gotten much sleep.

* * *

by around 8 am, Asui and Uraraka were released, and they happily surprised their classmates in the temporary female dorm with tales from the nurse's office. According to Uraraka, Midoriya had awoken early that morning to find several different body parts in casts, only to remove them and attempt to get up. Aizawa sensei had been forced to restrain her with his "capture scarf," as Uraraka called it.

Uraraka and Asui relayed additional stories - like how Shoji had been unwilling to let Recovery Girl treat him until he was absolutely sure that Tokoyami was okay, and how Sero had stayed up all night to see Shiozaki. Unfortunately for him, that meant he was unable to stay awake when she finally did wake up, and he passed out only moments after she came to. Yaoyorozu couldn't help but smile at their happy faces, nor could she keep herself from grabbing Kyoka's hand when she saw that Uraraka's and Asui's fingers were interlaced.

Midnight sensei came into the girls' room in order to tell them that they were allowed to contact their parents, and it should be safe for them to go home. They were required to show up on campus the following morning at 6:30 am so they could travel to the site of the license exam. Additionally, Midnight informed the students that the fight had been presented to the media as a training exercise, so they should try to keep the details from the previous night to themselves.

Even thought they were free to go, most of the students stayed on campus for quite some time, going through their possessions in the ruined dorm building or staying with their injured classmates. Some, like Kirishima, Tetsutetsu, and Sato, chose to train all day in the hopes that a few last-minute sets could help them during the exam. Others simply stretched and did some light cardio or training, fully allowing themselves to forget their stressful night and focus on the task ahead. Namely, Iida and Bakugou were only seen at random intervals throughout the day as they jogged around campus.

Most of the other students were trying to keep to themselves or deal with personal issues. Yaoyorozu attempted to call her parents four times over the course of the day, and they never picked up.

"Damn it," she muttered, rubbing a hand over her face as the sun finally sank below the horizon. She tossed her phone on the ground in front of her as her call was ignored yet again. Kyoka was sitting beside her on the pavement a few meters away from the wrecked dormitory. They had just collected their belongings from inside, but Yaoyorozu had taken very little. She could recreate most of the items in that room, or purchase them at little personal cost.

Kyoka rubbed her back. "Still not picking up, Momo?" she asked.

"Yeah," Yaoyorozu replied with a sigh. "I just… I don't know. I know they're going to be upset, and it's not like I want to get yelled at. I guess… I want to tell them that I'm alright, and… I want them to care."

"I'm sure they do, Momo."

A few tears ran down Yaoyorozu's cheeks. "I don't know what to do. We were told that we should get picked up tonight and go home, but I don't want to go back there."

"Then don't. You're always welcome at my place, and you know that." Kyoka's voice was soft and kind, and she pulled Yaoyorozu into a sideways hug. "You can always figure this stuff out with your parents when the exam is over."

Yaoyorozu smiled sadly. "Maybe you're right. Or I could just never go back." She wiped away some of the tears that ran down her face. Her makeup from the previous night was still there, and she and Kyoka were still wearing their formal clothes.

She rested her head on Kyoka's shoulder for a few minutes, during which time Iida finally retired from his training. Almost as soon as the conflict was over, he had changed into basketball shorts and a jersey so he could train without ruining his formal wear any more than it had already been damaged. He approached the two with purpose.

"Yaoyorozu, Jiro. I was thinking I might invite some of the students to my house, given that I am able to accommodate those whose parents are not expecting them to return. Do you think this is a good idea?" Iida asked.

"Yes. I think that would be a great idea. I would offer my place as well, but my parents aren't picking up, and…" Yaoyorozu trailed off, and her gaze fell to the phone at her feet.

Iida nodded. "I understand. If you need anything, let me know, Yaoyorozu. I might not be your boyfriend, but I hope you can still consider me a friend."

"Of course, Iida. Thank you very much."

With a smile, Iida pulled out his own phone and sent a text on the class group chat as he walked off. A few seconds later, Yaoyorozu could see her phone screen light up in front of her, and Kyoka's buzzed in her pocket.

"Do you think you and he could have seriously dated if you were straight?" Kyoka asked.

Yaoyorozu shifted so she could look up at Kyoka incredulously. "Oh, goodness. I can't think about that. I can't imagine what it would be like to be straight. It sounds gross."

Kyoka grinned. "Don't insult the heteros," she chided. "I was one for a while."

Yaoyorozu laughed. "I don't know, Kyoka. I think he likes someone else, so we might not have dated anyway."

"He likes someone?" Kyoka asked, nearly startled by the news. "Who?"

"Man, I can't remember her name. The girl from the support class who fought him in the tournament," Yaoyorozu said, rubbing her temple.

Kyoka gasped. "Oh, I know who you're talking about! Hatsume, right?"

"Yes! That was her name," Yaoyorozu replied.

"That's surprising. I mean, they're so… different. He's proper and… and law-abiding, and all that, and she's flirtatious and boisterous and not-Iida-like."

Yaoyorozu sighed a little wistfully. "Love is strange. You stay here with me, even though I'm a terrible girlfriend."

Without hesitation, Kyoka replied, "You're not."

"Todoroki was right. Every part of our relationship has been what I want, and I didn't take your feelings into account. I never even asked you if you wanted to go to that stupid party with me." Yaoyorozu stared forward at her feet.

"You didn't have to ask, Momo."

"Yes, I did. And honestly, I don't know why I wanted to go in the first place," she admitted. "I like the attention, and that's so selfish of me! We should have been here, both to spend time with our classmates and to help them when they were attacked."

Kyoka shifted under Yaoyorozu. "We did help them-"

"Not only that, but I forced you into a position where you had to ask Kaminari to go with you after he cheated on you!" Yaoyorozu was gesturing wildly about, becoming angry with herself.

"It's alright, Momo-"

"I was manipulative and oblivious and horrible, and I'm so sorry, Kyoka! I wish I had just told my parents as soon as we started dating - hell, I should have told them years ago, the first time I thought I might have been a lesbian, and then I could have been there for you, and we wouldn't have had to keep this a secret at all-"

"Momo!" Kyoka nearly shouted, and Yaoyorozu fell silent in an instant. She snapped upright and turned to face Kyoka, covering her mouth with both hands. Yet again, she had pushed Kyoka aside and rambled on about her own thoughts. This was exactly what made her a horrible girlfriend.

"Listen to me for one second. I love your voice, and I will always be there to listen to you, but I will not let you put yourself down like this." Kyoka fully turned her body to face Yaoyorozu as well. "You are not a terrible girlfriend. I don't care if you want to hide me under the covers or shout about our relationship from the top of the dorm building. I kept our relationship as secret as I could because you wanted me to, not because I felt forced to do so."

Yaoyorozu hiccuped.

"And even if you had told your parents earlier, before you met me, they would have been horrible to you then. At least now, you have me, right? And you have Iida, and Todoroki, and all these other classmates of ours who will always love and support you." She gestured around them, where a few others were quietly conversing. Iida was talking to Ashido, who was sheepishly taking him up on his offer of a place to stay overnight.

"And yes, maybe I didn't want to go with Kaminari to your parents' 'social gathering,' but I asked him anyway." Kyoka's voice was starting to get a little louder as she riled herself up. "Because we move ahead, Momo, and I can't stay stuck on the dumb, idiotic, and ridiculously stupid things he's done in the past. He was more than willing to try to make up for his actions, and maybe, because of this, I won't hate him quite so much anymore."

Yaoyorozu hiccuped again, still not daring to take her hands away from her mouth.

"You don't have to be ashamed of the fact that you like the spotlight, and you like to be around people. You don't have to be ashamed that you wanted to put on a beautiful dress and talk to all those people - I don't think it's stuffy or vain. You are a social person, and a people pleaser. And the fact that we were at your parents' place didn't stop us from helping out when the villains attacked here." Kyoka looked up at the charred building. "And arguably, the fact that we weren't here made it easier for us to call for help. Had Todoroki been here, he might have been too overwhelmed to call his father, and Iida might not have been able to ask for the others."

By this point, it was pretty clear that a few of the other students were listening in on Kyoka's rant, though most had the tact to act as though they weren't paying attention. Iida, however, was gaping rather obviously at them.

"And Momo?" Kyoka said, lowering her voice just a little. "You didn't have to ask if I wanted to go to your parents' event."

"Yes I d-hic-did," Yaoyorozu stuttered, finally bringing her hands down and away from her mouth. "You would have -hic- rather been here."

Kyoka reached forward and took both Yaoyorozu's hands in hers. "Maybe, Momo. But only if it was with you."

At this point, Yaoyorozu started to sob. Tears poured down her face as Kyoka pulled her into a tight hug.

"How can you be -hic- this understand-hic-ing?" Yaoyorozu asked. She buried her face in Kyoka's shoulder. "I don't deser-"

"Don't you dare say you don't deserve it. After everything you've done for me, after everything you've done for our classmates, do not try to claim that you don't deserve to have someone listen to you," Kyoka murmured. "I don't like it when people talk about my girlfriend like that."

Yaoyorozu sniffed, pausing as she tried to think of something she could say that wasn't self-depricating. "Okay. Thank you for listening, and telling me all this. I love you."

"I love you, too."

* * *

When Kyoka's parents arrived to take her home, they reiterated her invitation to Yaoyorozu. She politely declined, asking for a ride back to her house.

After they arrived at the gorgeous Yaoyorozu mansion, Kyoka got out of the car so she could tell Yaoyorozu goodbye. "Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?" Kyoka asked, grasping Yaoyorozu's hands in hers.

"I'll be okay." Yaoyorozu gave her a smile.

"What if they don't let you in?" Kyoka asked.

"I have a key."

"What if they changed the locks?"

Yaoyorozu sighed. "In one day, Kyoka? If they changed the locks, I can make a mold for a new key and generate the key that would unlock the door-"

"Fine, fine! I get it." Kyoka looked up at the house. "I just want to make sure you're going to be okay."

"I know. I promise I'll be okay. I'll see you tomorrow." She leaned down to give Kyoka a kiss, and then made her way up the pathway in front of her house.

The car behind her pulled away from the curb right in front of the gate, but the Jiro family did not turn the corner at the end of the road. Yaoyorozu smiled to herself as she unlocked the gate and walked inside. At least now she had Kyoka, who would never leave her if there was any potential for danger.

She walked up the front lawn and slowly unlocked the front door. She turned and waved at the car as she did so, to tell them that she was able to get in. The car slowly turned and continued down the road.

Yaoyorozu almost hoped no one was awake, but she prepared herself for the conversation she knew was coming. A small table was set out in the main hall, and most of the decorations from the previous night's festivities had been taken down. "Momo, you're home," she heard, turning to see her mother's head poking out of the kitchen. Her voice was strained.

"Let's have a chat," she continued, emerging alongside Yaoyorozu's father. "Then, you should get some food. You have an important day ahead of you tomorrow."

Yaoyorozu nodded. Her mother's tight-lipped expression and her father's furrowed brow generated a knot in her stomach, but the promise of a full meal was encouraging. "Yes, mother."

The three sat down at the table. Yaoyorozu took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She wasn't sure if her parents would yell, or belittle her, or talk at her condescendingly, but she was well aware that she wouldn't accept it. Kyoka deserved better than a girlfriend who had to hide under the covers.

Her consolation, as the night progressed, was simply that this was how she'd move ahead. Fighting on this issue was inevitable - but tomorrow was a big day, and after that, a whole future was waiting for her.


	26. Chapter 26

AN: Hello there. I'm tired, and this chapter ended up taking waaaay longer than it should have. It felt rushed, even though I've been working on it intermittently all day. I don't know - I feel like the last couple of chapters have been harder than some of the earlier ones...

It's been a long month, and while I am not yet done with this story, thank you to everyone who has made it this far! I appreciate your time and commitment, and I hope these last few chapters are worth the wait. Happy December!

* * *

Chapter 26: Get Over Her Already

"Hey, idiot."

At the sound of Bakugou's voice, Kaminari instinctively tensed up a little. It was late on the evening after the attack, and almost everyone else had gone home - in fact, as Kaminari looked around for any potential witnesses, no one else was in his line of sight.

"Hey, Bakugou! What's up?" he asked, turning to face his classmate. He scratched at the back of his neck nervously. While Bakugou didn't sound actively angry, most of their conversations tended to end with some sort of shout or explosion. Kaminari supposed he had that kind of effect on people.

Bakugou's usual scowl was in full effect, and he approached at a velocity that Kaminari was not entirely comfortable with to grab him by the collar. "What the hell, Bakugou?" Kaminari yelled as he was dragged into the nearest room.

Bakugou shut the door and released Kaminari once they were inside.

"Listen, I don't know what I did, but I think if Aizawa sensei finds my body in some random classroom-"

"Shut up." Bakugou was averting his gaze, and at this point he rubbed his forehead and squeezed his eyes shut. "Why… would I want to kill you?"

"I don't know, but whatever I did, I'm sorry." Kaminari took a step back.

Bakugou sighed. There was clearly something important on his mind, and for the first time since Kaminari met him, Bakugou seemed unsure of himself. "Well you sound awfully apologetic," he muttered.

Kaminari didn't have much to say to that. He just didn't want to make Bakugou upset with him. "Is there something I can… help you with, Bakugou?"

When Bakugou didn't immediately respond, Kaminari fiddled with his hands.

"Um, listen, Kaminari, I don't know how to do this."

Kaminari's eyebrows shot up an inch or so as he looked at Bakugou, who shoved his hands in his pockets and eyed the carpet beneath them. "Bakugou, what are you trying to-"

"If you hurt Kirishima, I will personally pummel your ass into the ground." Immediately, he turned to leave the room, leaving Kaminari behind, paralyzed in confusion.

* * *

"Hey, Sero, I've got a quick question for you," Kaminari said, approaching his friend as soon as he made it on campus the next morning. With only five minutes to spare, Kaminari had arrived, costume packed and hoping against hope that he was ready for the license exam.

Sero looked up from his phone and gave Kaminari a tired smile. "What's up?"

"So, last night, Bakugou told me something that was kind of weird-" Kaminari began, but he cut himself off at the sight of Midoriya, who was talking to Uraraka and Asui a few feet away. She was holding the case with her hero costume. "Wait, is Midoriya really well enough to pass the test?" Kaminari asked.

Sero shrugged. "Even if she's not totally better, it's preferable to skipping the test entirely, right?"

"Yeah, I guess. Anyway - Bakugou kind of said that he would kick my ass if I-"

Sero's phone screen suddenly lit up, and he immediately diverted his attention away from Kaminari. It looked as though he received a text from someone, and he took a few seconds to reply. "Sorry, that was Ibara. I just want to make sure she's alright, too."

"Nah, that's fine! I understand," Kaminari said. "But seriously, last night, Bakugou was-"

"Alright, class! The bus has arrived! Let's please get on board in an orderly fashion," Iida called. Kaminari sighed with exasperation. He was really hoping to get an explanation for Bakugou's strange behavior before the exam.

Kaminari tried his best to sit next to Sero, but Ashido beat him to it. He then looked for Kirishima out of habit, only to find that he had already taken the seat next to Bakugou.

Bakugou was giving Kaminari a rather pointed look, and Kaminari did not really like the experience. He finally sat beside Hagakure, a few seats behind his red-haired friend.

* * *

When they unloaded the buses, Kaminari was lost in thought. He imagined it was rather bizarre to most of his classmates, and Ashido at least seemed to miss his jokes.

He spotted Kirishima talking with Sero a few paces away from the bus when he descended the stairs, so he made his way over to them.

"I told you, I would only tell Kami if things between you and Shiozaki didn't work out," Kirishima was saying. Sero was grinning rather mischievously.

This peaked Kaminari's interest. This sounded like gossip that had nothing to do with Bakugou's weird threat. "Tell me what?" Kaminari asked, throwing his arm around Kirishima's shoulder.

Sero burst into laughter, and Kirishima's face turned nearly as red as his hair. "It's nothing!" he said quickly.

Kaminari narrowed his eyes, determined to hear whatever secret Kirishima may have been keeping from him. "Come on, Kiri! You have to tell me now." When Kirishima just looked down at their feet, Kaminari added, "Don't do me like this."

"Oh, I'm sure he wouldn't mind doing you like - ow!" Sero commented through his laughter, though he was cut off by a slap on the back of the head from Kirishima.

"Shut up!" Kirishima said quietly, and Kaminari released him out of surprise. He had never known Kirishima to actually rise to anger like this before.

* * *

It took a few minutes for Kaminari to fit the pieces together, but his academic stupidity did not translate to social naivety. Kirishima _liked_ him.

From Sero's crass comment and Kirishima's embarrassment, it was pretty obvious. When combined with Bakugou's comment about hurting Kirishima, it just made sense. Kirishima was the only person Bakugou seemed to care about, so it made at least some sense that Bakugou would try his best to be a wingman.

A very, very bad wingman, perhaps, but Kaminari had to give him credit for his attempt.

By this point, they were funneling into the exam, and Kaminari didn't want to distract Kirishima. Hell, he wasn't even sure if he liked Kirishima back, and the last thing he wanted to do was… well, hurt him. Not only would Bakugou "pummel his ass," but it would be douchey, too. And Kaminari was done being douchey.

"Where am I supposed to put these?" Kirishima complained, twisting around and looking at his costume for reasonable places to stick the adhesive targets they were given.

"It doesn't matter, Kirishima. Just don't get hit and it won't be a problem," Bakugou muttered, shoving his three targets onto random parts of his costume.

Kaminari sighed, putting two of his targets on the outer parts of his jacket. Kirishima definitely wasn't bad looking, that was for sure. Kaminari had only ever dated girls before, but it's not as though he was totally straight. If he'd learned anything from his kiss with Sero, it was that kissing guys was extremely similar to kissing girls.

* * *

"Try to stay with someone!" Midoriya yelled as the walls around them fell to the ground. Around them was a massive arena. "Most of the others here probably know a lot about us already, given that many of us fought in the sports festival. We are going to be huge targets right off the bat, and the larger the group, the easier it will be to defend ourselves."

Kaminari thought that sounded like a great idea. He was standing immediately beside Kirishima, trying somewhat awkwardly to keep his attention focused on the task ahead. This was no time to try to figure out feelings of romance.

"Damn it, Deku! I don't need anyone's help!" Bakugou said angrily, splitting away from the rest of the class immediately.

"Bakugou - wait up!" Kirishima called, jogging to catch his angry friend.

Kaminari considered his options, looking back and forth between the disappearing pair and the remainder of the class. Todoroki was leaving as well, saying something about how he was afraid that his powers would hurt some of the others if he tried to use them.

"You should go with them," Ashido whispered, startling Kaminari as she gestured towards the two. So she knew about Kirishima's crush, too.

"You think?"

Ashido nodded, smirking just a little. "Bakugou can be so rude sometimes, and you don't want to make Kirishima deal with him alone, do you?"

"Oh, no. That would just be mean to Kiri," Kaminari replied, justifying his actions to both Ashido and himself as he took off after Bakugou and Kirishima. Hopefully, this wouldn't be too much of a distraction for them.

* * *

Kaminari was panting a little by the time he eliminated his second opponent. Kirishima and Bakugou had just done the same as well, meaning that their targets began to glow blue and they were told to head to the recovery room.

"Nice work, Kami!" Kirishima praised, beaming at Kaminari happily. "Thanks for freeing us from that awful quirk."

"Heh. Well, it was really Bakugou's grenade that did the trick," Kaminari replied. He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck as the three started walking towards the room.

"Don't sell yourself short, bro." Kirishima clapped Kaminari on the back.

Bakugou sighed heavily. His footsteps were slightly louder than they really needed to be as he walked ahead of the other two. "Have you told him yet?" he asked over his shoulder.

Told him what? Kaminari thought. There was nothing to tell Kirishima at this point - all that Kaminari was really willing to admit was that Kirishima was not, strictly speaking, unattractive. That, and he was kind and funny, and he always stood up for his friends, even when it would get him in trouble, and…

Quietly, Kaminari let out a small, "Hm."

"Wait, how did you find out?" Kirishima asked, his eyes wide and fixated on the back of Bakugou's head.

"It's not like you're good at hiding your feelings, Kirishima."

Kirishima blushed. "Well, it's not manly to just keep your emotions all bottled up and… wait a second - did Ashido and Sero tell you?"

Bakugou peered over his shoulder just so that the other two could visibly see him roll his eyes.

"They did tell you!" Kirishima shouted, covering his face in his hands as he continued to walk. "I swore them to secrecy!"

"Make better friends, Kirishima!" Bakugou shouted back.

"Hey, both of you, calm down!" Kaminari said, hands outstretched in front of him. "And Kiri, I'm pretty sure he wasn't talking to you."

Bakugou snorted.

"Huh?" Kirishima asked.

"Bakugou already told me about your little crush last night," he explained.

Bakugou made a full stop and turned around at the accusation. "What the hell are you talking about, you piece-of-shit, Pikachu-looking ass-"

"And Sero and Ashido confirmed this morning. Bakugou was asking if I had told you I like you back." Kaminari shrugged as he and Kirishima stopped as well.

Kirishima peered at Kaminari between his fingers. "You do?"

Kaminari nodded back. "So, wanna get some food after this?"

The smile that filled Kirishima's face sent flutters through Kaminari's chest. "Yeah!"

"Good. Now that we got that out of the way, will the two of you finally leave me alone?" Bakugou scowled, but Kaminari could tell he was pretty pleased with himself.

"Not a chance," Kirishima replied, still smiling.

"Why, afraid to be a third wheel?" Kaminari averted his eyes as Bakugou devolved into defensive shouts.

* * *

"Okay, so how did you know I liked him?" Kaminari asked Bakugou. After they had arrived in the recovery room, Kirishima had gone off in search of some food, and Kaminari waited for a minute to have a quick word with the blonde.

Bakugou glared him down with a fiery gaze. Clearly, he was not over Kaminari's comment. "Kirishima wears his heart on his sleeve, but he's pretty good at hiding who he likes. You, on the other hand, seem to be the exact opposite."

Kaminari pursed his lips. "What do you mean?"

Bakugou rolled his eyes and let out a long sigh. "You feel pretty insecure about how you treated Jiro, right? But you don't tell anyone, and you joke about it instead so that people think you don't feel ashamed about it. On the other hand, you've been staring at Kirishima for the entire exam so far."

"Wow." Kaminari had to take a step backward as he absorbed Bakugou's words. It was true, he felt terrible about cheating on Jiro, and it was true he joked about it to hide the fact that he still blamed himself for ruining that relationship. A wave of embarrassment hit him as he realized that he had been staring at Kirishima for most of that first challenge. The exception was when Kirishima had been transformed into a meatball, but Kaminari's main thought had simply been to get him back.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "This from the guy who only cares about Kirishima."

"Listen here, Static-Cling, Kirishima might not annoy me as much as the rest of you idiots, but that doesn't mean-"

Kaminari raised an eyebrow. "Ooh, with that high praise, maybe you should be dating him-"

"This is exactly what I meant: you making jokes to deflect away from the fact that I'm right, and you don't want to talk about your emotions," Bakugou shot at him. "And just because I'll save toss you a grenade to take on a villain doesn't mean I won't hospitalize you for breaking his heart."

"No, that's fair," Kaminari said, allowing all signs of amusement to fall from his face. "You're right, I really hate what I did to Jiro. But I will never do that to anyone again."

"Who are you trying to convince? You don't need to tell me, I'm just added incentive not to be an asshole."

Kaminari nodded. It was true - Bakugou's approval was less important than Kaminari's actions.

"I'm going to change my hero name to Static-Cling, by the way-"

"Damn it!" Bakugou let out an angry curse, and Kaminari could see his shoulders tense up. "How did she pass?"

Kaminari turned to see Midoriya, Sero, and Uraraka enter the room. "Okay, Bakugou, you either need to tell Midoriya you like her, or get over her already."

Kirishima returned to find Bakugou attempting to strangle Kaminari, and the commotion attracted a few of their classmates who had passed this stage of the exam as well. It took the combined efforts of Kirishima, Todoroki, and Shoji to finally separate the two.


End file.
